TMM: College Years
by Satashi
Summary: TMM redone in a college setting. Love, action, drama, comedy all rolled into one. Follow Ichigo as she receives her powers and fights for the planet while still trying to live a normal life.
1. Daybreak

I sighed as I flopped down on the tailgate of my father's truck. Wiping some sweat from my face, I looked at all the other things I still had to unload. My father and mother were both at work currently, leaving me all alone to take in my things into my new apartment. I didn't have any friends around this are of town, and with all the new freshmen getting ready for college, the ones I already have are busy as well.

**TMM: College Years I**

**By: **

**Satashi**

"Need some help?" I looked up and blinked, seeing a handsome male in front of me. He seemed to be about my age with dark blueish black hair and brown eyes. "Moving in can be a pain, can't it?"

"Um, um," I blushed, looking down a little bit. One of my downfalls was being too shy around people I didn't know. Well, I wasn't shy around people I didn't know, only cute, nice boys that I didn't know. "...Yes, please."

"This your first time moving away from home?" He asked me, looking into the truck and picking up something that I was having trouble with earlier. It was a little weird seeing him pick it up so easily after struggling with it for so long myself.

"Hey, you're pretty strong." He smiled at me and I blushed again, looking away and into the truck to grab something as well. "And yes, this is my first time. I'm on the third floor." Laughing a little nervously, I spared a glance up at him.

He was smiling and didn't seem to mind trudging up the flight of stairs to help me. "Third floor is really good for first time being on your own." We walked together to the apartment complex building and started to walk the stairs.

"Why is that?" I pondered before gasping. "Oh, I'm sorry, I haven't told you my name yet. I'm Ichigo, Momomiya Ichigo."

"That's a pretty name. I'm Aoyama Masaya." Turning a little, we started up the last flight of steps. "And to answer your question, it's because the third floor is the safest. No body is going to break into a third floor apartment and steal someone's T.V. Also, I don't know about other people, but when I first live don my own, I had a tendency to leave my door unlocked while running to the store."

"I never thought about that. Ah, this is mine." I kicked open the door that I left partly open. Upon entering, I noticed that Masaya took note of which number it was. "Apartment 307. Home sweet home."

My apartment was baron, aside from a few boxes in the floor and random things strewn around. From the entrance, a kitchen was to the left after a small walk way. Opening up, a decently large living room spanned on the right, complete with sliding balcony doors and large windows to let in light. Also on my ceiling, I had a skylight that ran along the vaulted ceilings. From the living room a small hallway opened up, leading to two bedrooms and a single bathroom with a small sliding door next to it for a washer and dryer.

"It has potential," He grinned as he sat down the box he was carrying. "Give it a few weeks; you'll be amazed at what you can do." Looking around some more, he spoke again. "Where is your room mate?"

"Don't have one yet," I admitted, scratching the back of my head. "These apartments are a little expensive because they are a little closer to campus so all of my other friends can't afford it." Blushing a little, I scratched my cheek. "Actually, I can't afford it either. My parents are helping me out a lot. My Daddy is a nut when it comes to me being on my own."

"He must really care about you." We started walking back down to the truck to get another load in. On the way down, though, he stopped and picked up an empty beer can lying next to the sidewalk. "It's a shame to see such a pretty lawn be ruined like this." To my surprise, he eyes a trash can far away and reared back and threw it, making it go in clean.

"Oh _wow_!" I gapes and beamed up at him. "You must play sports."

"I'm the Kendo captain at Tokyo University," He admitted with a grin. "Our old captain left at the end of last year and I was voted to take his place, although this is only my second year of college. But as for other sports? Nah, not really my thing. Give me a good book at night any day over screaming at a game."

"That's a nice change from what I'm used to. Most guys at my old school were jocks. And I bet you that none of them would have picked up a can. Good to see that _some_ people still care enough to do little things like that." I grabbed a large box and lifted hard up on it, struggling. I then found his hands next to mine and the box was easily lifted away from me. Blushing, I looked down a little bit and smiled. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." He waited patently for me to grab the last of my cloths from the truck. Hopping down from the tailgate, I pushed it up and walked with him back to the stairs. "Do you have furniture yet?"

"Not yet. I have to go shopping a little later."

"I know a great place that's having a sale. You may want to check it out. Down past the Okihabara section of Tokyo."

"I... Kind of don't know my way around here just yet."

Masaya looked to my kitchen and seemed to ponder something for a moment. "Hey, do you want me to show you around sometime? I can point out a few places here and there."

A date? I shook my head to try and clear it. No, it was still way too early to be thinking like that. I had just met the boy and already I was thinking of dates? "I would like that." He smiled and nodded before noticing the time on the microwave.

"Ah, sorry, I have to run. I'm already late for my kendo meeting."

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Bowing quickly, I flushed. "I'm so sorry to keep you for so long. Thank you so much for your help."

"It was fun." He waved and trotted to the door, where he turned and waved at me again. "It was great meeting you, Momomiya-san."

I felt my lips turn into a smile and I nodded to him. "Yeah! Come by sometime, okay Aoyama-kun?"

"You got it." He turned and ran down the hallway and then down the stairs.

Walking over to my balcony, I opened it up and stepped out on the semi-large porch I had. Leaning on the rails, I watched the boy run down the sidewalk and to a car not very far away. "Well," I spoke aloud, propping up my chin onto the palm of my hand. "The first day isn't so bad." I inhaled slowly though my nose, taking in the crisp air. It was only just starting to get cold, making the leaves start to change colors and begin to fall. "I think I'll do okay for myself on my own."

* * *

Walking on campus was fun to me for some reason. I guess it was the fact that soon I would be here regularly, and not just a visitor for some reason. I was currently looking at the small map in my hands as I walked around, trying to find the small building next to the Union. The Union was a large building with an extremely open interior. It had a large food court, places to eat, and an entire carpeted area with several couches, soft music, tables, and Televisions. The bottom floor of it hosted a bookstore, arcade, and several student help places. The top floor was almost one large computer lab for research and LAN parties. All-in-all, it was the 'gathering spot' for most of the students.

I was supposed to go to the building to the east of it for a blood test today. I don't like needles, not one bit. Having them suck out my blood was even worse. Last time I had to have a blood test done, I fainted before they even began. Miwa didn't let me live that one down for several weeks at least. Luckily she slowly forgot about it and I was reduced to random teasing whenever I made her mad about something.

Frustrated at not knowing my way around, I kicked the railing next to the stairs. "I'm sure the rails are truly sorry for upsetting you," an amused and some-what cocky voice sprang up, making me turn. A tall American male was leaning against the wall by the stairs, which he was sitting on. He had short blond hair and clear crystal blue eyes. He didn't look too much older than I was. Maybe twenty-three or twenty-four. "I apologize on behalf of the stairs."

He sure was a smartass. "For your information, I'm upset at not finding a place, not because of the stairs."

"Freshman, huh?" He asked, hopping up. "Where are you looking for?"

"The place for the blood test," I sniffed at him.

The boy made a face. "They stopped doing that an hour ago."

"What?" I looked at my wrist to see my clock. "It's already five? I know I haven't been lost for _that_ long... Aw man, today was the last day too... now I'm going to be late signing up for my classes, I won't get the ones I need and I'll probably be stuck with all hard courses..."

The man sighed and shook his head. "Guess it can't be helped then. Come on, let's go."

"Go? Go where?"

"To get your blood test done, of course."

"What do you mean?"

He looked over his shoulder. "I mean, I'm taking you to get it done. You want to or not?"

I ran over to him quickly and started walking beside him. "Really? You can do that?"

"I can do anything."

I snorted. "Full of yourself aren't you?"

"A little." He grinned, making me laugh. He might be a self-centered jerk on the outside but he seemed like a fun guy at least. "I'm Ryou, by the way. Shirogane Ryou. You are?"

"Momomiya Ichigo." I bowed lightly as we walked. "Thank you for your help."

"Yeah, sure. I felt like it." He put his hands behind his head as we walked. "It's in that building over there." He motioned with his head to where we were going. Upon entering, he called out to someone. "Hey! Keiichiro! We have a straggler!"

A tall man appeared in the room, wiping his hands on a cloth. "Ryou, I'm right here, you don't have to yell." He noticed me and I waved lightly. "Oh, did you not make it for the testing today?"

"I was moving into my new apartment." I scratched my cheek. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience. Can I still have it done?"

"Of course, I would be more than happy to help you out." The man known as Keiichiro motioned for me to go into the door from which he had come. Stepping through it, I saw several chairs lined up and many medical supplies in cabinets. "Please, have a seat." He motioned to a chair.

Sitting down on it, I watched Ryou gather a few supplies while Keiichiro tied a band over my arm before swabbing some alcohol and cotton over the crook of my arm. "Have you ever had blood drawn before?"

"Once, when I was little."

"Then you probably don't remember much about it. I'm just going to prick a little but and draw enough blood for testing. It isn't as much as a normal blood test, so it shouldn't be too bad on you. You can look away if you want to; I'll tell you when I'll stick you."

Blushing, I looking away and nodded. I was amazed that someone like Ryou would work with someone as sweet and caring as Keiichiro seemed to be. But then again, Ryou _had_ taken me here as a personal favor, even after he already stated that they had stopped taking people an hour ago.

"Here it goes. Just a little prick. Three, Two, One, and here goes.

I squinted my eyes and felt the needle prick me. A moment later, it was gone and Keiichiro was congratulating me on it, but my head was getting foggy and it was hard to keep my eyes open...

* * *

"Ryou, look at this." Keiichiro clicked on the mouse at his computer and brought up a DNA diagram. Ryou leaned over the chair to get a closer look, a smile spreading on his face.

"It's perfect. We found our top Lady all right."

"What do you plan to do now?" He looked back over to his friend and partner. "We can't just inject it into her while she sleeps. There's no telling how she will react to that."

"We'll have to give her a choice." Ryou rubbed his neck thoughtfully. "We can't force this on them. If it is too much, we could be asking them to die."

"But if she refuses?"

"She can't refuse. The world won't let her." Ryou licked his lips. "I'll make the offer tomorrow. For now she needs to make it home and get some sleep. I can't believe she fainted over something like a blood test..."

Keiichiro chuckled. "I think it adds flare."

"I think she's waking up."

"Wha...Where am I?" I slowly opened my eyes and allowed someone to help me to a sitting position. "Who...Shirogane? What happened to me?"

"You passed out while having your blood drawn. Here, can you stand?" He helped me to my feet and I shook my head lightly to try and clear it. "It's already night time. I'll walk you home."

"Night...? How long was I out?" I looked at my clock. "Seven twenty... I'm so sorry!"

"It is no problem." Keiichiro took my hand and kissed it, making me blush. "Please, get some rest tonight. If you get too worked up before college starts then you won't sleep well and be tired."

"O-okay..." I bowed lightly to him. "Thank you again for letting me do this so later, and for looking after me."

"My pleasure, my lady."

Walking outside, the wind was a little cold blowing against me. The sky was already dark and stars littered the clean view of space above us. "It's a pretty night, "Ryou spoke next to me, reminding me that he offered to walk me home.

"I like the stars." I began to walk, leading him lightly. "I always like to think that there are other people out there as well. Maybe really far away. Don't you think that would be neat?"

"I'd prefer it if we were alone..." He whispered under his breath.

"What was that? I didn't her you."

"Nothing. You live close by?"

"It's not too far. About ten minutes to my door from here I guess. You really don't have to walk me you know."

Walking past the Union, a group of boys let out a wolf whistle in my general direction. Ryou, to my surprise, placed his jacket over my shoulders and sent them a glare. "It's not good for a cute girl to walk alone at night."

I looked down, embarrassed. "Thanks. I'm not used to that sort of thing." I pulled his jacket around me, liking the warmth it gave me.

The rest of the way back was in comfortable silence. Ryou seemed to be a nicer person than I originally thought. Although he tried to act like he didn't care, I could tell that he was really kind deep down under that mach exterior.

"Ah, this I my apartment building." I turned and smiled up at him from the stairs. "I'd invite you up for a while, but I don't have anything but boxes sitting in my floor. Not even a bed yet." Laughing lightly, I rubbed the back of my head in an embarrassed manor.

"It's okay, I understand." He turned and waved to me with two fingers. "I'll see you later then."

"Yeah. Let's do that." He smiled at me and for the first time I noticed that he was kind of cute like that. Returning his smile, I waved at him and watched him until he was far away. It was only then did I notice that I still had his jacket on. "Oh well. I'm sure I'll run across him again, surely."

Turning to start up the stairs, I grinned. It was only the first day living on my own and I've already met two guys. Maybe my love life will start to pick up now that I was in college. High school had left me with two boyfriends that didn't last a month each. Other than that, I tended to shy away from most boys around my age.

* * *

A/N: Shorter than what I wanted, but I wanted to go ahead and get the first chapter posted so everyone could see my new story's begging. stretch Well, this one doesn't really have a stopping point in mind, so I guess I'll just keep working on it until I can start to wind it down. So far it doesn't seem like it will end any time soon. I may make a few short stories during the process of this one, but I'm not sure yet.

The pairings for this one are Ichigo/Ryou ; Ichigo/Masaya ; Ichigo/Kish. Kind of like the Manga, she likes all of the boys. Well, of course Kish is going to be a slight problem for her to like, but don't worry. Like I said before, this story will differ greatly from the series. I want to keep it new and original as much as I can while trying to keep all the characters true to their nature.

More reviews I get, the longer the chapters will be. So review lots and you'll get to read lots - See you next chapter.


	2. Sunrise

Pulling on my shirt, I tucked it into my jeans and looked myself over in my mirror. I looked decently cute, so I decided to go with it. A light red long sleeved shirt with dark blue jeans. Making my way over to the refrigerator, I opened it only to smack my self in the head. I had just moved in last night, of course I wouldn't have anything in there yet.

**TMM: College Years II**

**By: Satashi**

I opened the door to my apartment and shivered, wishing that I had thought to buy some sort of coat to wear or something. I then noticed the jacket hanging on the doorknob of my door. Thinking it over, I grabbed it and slid it on. The jacket was a little too large for me, but I still liked it. Big and warm, with a spicy scent to it. Besides, if I saw him today while I was around, I would be able to return it to him.

Locking the door behind me, I trotted down the steps and over to my dad's truck which I would have to drive home and change it out for my car. I had an older model car, but I liked it. It got me to point A to point B at least. I didn't really go out much anyway, just a few parties with my friends. But here at a new section of Tokyo, starting college, and looking for a job, I was bound to meet some people along the way.

On my way back to my parent's house, I mentally debated what all types of jobs I should apply for. All that I knew of off the top of my head at the grocery store near-by. I _really_ didn't want to bag groceries to pay for my college living, so I was hoping that there would be other job openings around the place. Preferably close to campus so I wouldn't have to drive very far.

My parents gave me a quick hug and kiss while wishing me luck on finding a new job. It was a little odd, going back to the place where I had spent literally all of my life living at, only to not live there anymore. I knew I would probably be going home every weekend or so for a while at least.

* * *

Hopping out of my car, I closed the door behind me and took a few steps before realizing I didn't lock it. Sighing, I shrugged and kept on walking. It wasn't like anyone would try and go through it in the middle of the student parking lot or anything. Pocketing my keys, I jumped lightly up onto sidewalk and made my way over to the Union, which loomed in the distance.

I've heard everyone tell me that I should get used to walking everywhere I went, but I never realized just how much I would be doing. The simple task of getting a good parking spot seemed impossible already and classes haven't even started yet. Sighing, I shook my head and continued on my way.

The inside was large and crowded with older students gathering with their friends and summer students studying for their final exams of the semester. I noticed a few other people like me, with a confused and almost scared look on their faces as they looked around while holding their map. I took a small amount of comfort in this, knowing that I was at least not alone in the category of being a 'Newbie' on campus.

Looking around, I made my way over to a large sign that proudly stated "Need a Job!? Find Help here!" and picked up one of the small pamphlets. Rooting through it, I realized that it had several different places listed that were hiring and how many available they had, as well as their address and phone numbers. Grinning, I started to walk while looking through it.

I didn't realize that I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going until I ran into someone who was rounding a corner. Falling back, I shouted out and flailed out my arms to try and stabilize myself. It was no use, however, and I fell back.

Amazingly, I found myself swooped up and the next thing I knew I was in the arms of someone. "Are you okay?" A masculine voiced asked me. Looking up at him, I blushed and nodded slightly. "Ah, I know you." He said, making me realize who it was. "You're Momomiya-san aren't you?"

Nodding again, I replied. "Aoyama-kun wasn't it?"

"That's right." He shifted and let my feet reclaim the ground. "Sorry for running into you like that."

"Oh no, my fault really. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." I laughed nervously and scratched the back of my head.

"What's that?" He nodded to my pamphlet and smiled. "Job hunting are you?"

"Eh? Oh, yeah. Yes, I am. I need to find one soon so I won't have to reply on my parents for long. You know of any places that are good enough to be recommended?"

He scratched his nose in thought a moment. "Well, there is a new Bar and Grill just off of campus. Not a ten minute walk from here or so. I don't think they are open yet, so they are probably hiring. Waitresses make a lot of money from tips. Especially cute ones."

Oh my god, is he flirting with me? I looked down a little and blushed. "Well then, I can count that one out."

"You're very cute." I blushed more as he went on. "Oh, am I keeping you from hunting?"

"Oh, it's okay! I just started." Looking up at him, I smiled. "I just got this."

"In that case, how about we meet up later? I'll show you a nice place to eat."

"Sure! Er, I mean, okay." He laughed lightly at my embarrassment. "What time should I meet you?"

"How about here at-" A ring tone called out, coming from his pocket. "Oh, hold on one second." Taking it out, he flipped down the phone and spoke into it. "This is Masaya... Oh, hi Mark. Tonight? I can't, I have plans... No..." He sighed out. "Are you sure it has to be tonight?... Yeah, dumb question, I'm sorry. Okay then. Around eight? I'll be there... Yeah... Yeah, you owe me man." He clicked his phone shut and scratched the back of his head. "I'll have to make this date for another time."

"Oh... Okay then."

"I'm not blowing you off, really." He looked a little embarrassed himself. "That was my best friend Mark. His little brother turned twenty-one today and Mark's taking him out to the new bar. They want me to drive them home."

"At least he's smart enough to call for that."

"Yeah, it makes up for everything else he's done." Masaya shook his head and sighed. "His senior year of high school, he and his friends dressed up like ninjas and poured laundry detergent in their school fountain reservoir at midnight and made it shoot bubbles for a week."

"...He did that?"

"He did."

"Wow."

"Yeah." He grinned. "So I'll just have to get in touch with you later then."

"Okay." I nodded up at him and smiled. "Um, do you... want my phone number?"

He seemed to think about it a moment before nodding. "Okay, sure." He handed me his cell phone. "Only if I can put mine in yours."

"Of course." I dug out mine from my pocket and handed it to him. Looking back to his, I flipped the piece down and went to his phone book, surprised as there were only three names in it. One was marked 'Home' so I was sure it was his Parent's house. Another was Mark and the final was Darren, someone I didn't know. Deciding it would be rude to ask why someone as nice as himself didn't have many friends in his phone, I went ahead and entered my name, adding a little heart next to it just to be cute. "Here you go." I handed it to him.

"And yours." I looked at mine and smiled at the name 'Masaya' on it. My second day and I had a boy's phone number in my phone! I was excited, but I tried to keep it down so I wouldn't be all giddy in front of him. "I got to run off now. Going to register for my classes."

"You can do that? I thought you had to wait another day?"

"When you've been here a year already, you get to do it a day early. Avoid most of the rush, but it still takes forever to do. But this way you get what you want before you can do it on-line. Plus, you can get your books right after you have your schedule. Good chance to get used books."

"Used books?"

He trotted off a bit before turning around and calling back to me. "Advice: Buy used books!" He then waved and ran off, leaving me alone.

"Hum..." I sniffed and looked at my phone, suddenly happy. "Miwa and Moe will be so shocked about this!"

* * *

A/N: So sorry for the long delay, but I've been really busy. Also I turned 21 yesterday (September 19th) so I didn't get a chance to write on the weekend at all ; . Anyway, I'll try my best to post every day or every other day ( with the usual 3,000 words per update) but I don't know if I can stick to that or not. Final Fantasy XI has invaded my soul once again and I don't have my MMORPG-ex pills to take anymore ;; So depending on how many people review a chapter I'll take more time out to write. It's only fair So until next time. And once again, sorry this is so short. 


	3. Morning

Sighing, I leaned against the wall and pulled Ryou's jacket closer around me. It was already night time and I had yet to find a job. Almost all of the jobs were taken, and right now my pamphlet had so many marks ran through the names, only a handful was left. Those were already past closing time, though, and would have to wait until tomorrow. One of the ones listed was the Mew's bar and Grill, which I was currently leaned against. It was the one Masaya spoke of earlier, but like he said it hasn't opened up yet.

**TMM: College Years III**

**By: Satashi**

"Can I help you with something?" A voice asked, making me turn to look at the speaker. He was American with long brown hair swept into a pony tail. He looked really familiar but I was having trouble placing a name with the face. "Ah, you're Ichigo-san, aren't you? You came in for the blood test yesterday."

Suddenly I remembered him. "Keiichiro, right?"

"That's correct. What are you doing out on such a chilly night?"

"Job hunting." I showed him the pamphlet. "No luck, though. I'm about to go find some dinner somewhere around here. Know of any places?"

"As a matter of fact I do." He smiled at me and motioned to the door he had just come out of. Realizing it was the entrance to the restaurant, I began to ask, but he bet me to it. "Its okay, come on in."

"Thank you." I walked in the door and into a slightly warmer large restaurant type room. There were booths all along the walls and tables scattering the floor. Also in the very middle was a large square bar with all types of glasses hanging from the cabinets above it. "Wow, nice place."

"Thank you. We've tried hard."

"Who you talking to, Keiichiro?" Another familiar voice asked as a blond male walked into the room. "Ichigo?"

I blushed. Both of them had remembered my name. "It seems Ichigo-san is in need of a job and a place to eat."

Ryou put his hands behind his head and let out an audible hum. "Well, we could always whip up something real quick like if you wanted to."

"Please, have a seat," he motioned to a bar stool, which I took. "Wait here; I'll go make you something."

"Oh no, you don't have to!"

"It would be my pleasure." He winked and walked off to a back room, which I assumed, was the kitchen.

"You legal?"

I blinked, but answered anyway. "Yeah, why?"

In a quick motion, Ryou hopped over the bar and pulled a large bowl shaped glass from the top. "I have a treat for you." He grabbed several handfuls of ice from a cooler and tossed them into a blender along with even more strawberries than ice and mixed them up before throwing in something that looked like yogurt and a few other things, topped off with some rum. Finally pouring the thick substance into a glass, he topped it with a dab of whip cream and slid it to me with a straw. "Here you go."

"What's this?"

He leaned on the bar on both arms and grinned. "With a name like Ichigo, you've never had a Strawberry Daiquiri?" he looked at me a moment before motioning to it. "Go on, try some."

I moved the glass closer to me and took a sip of it, amazed at how it tasted. "Oh wow, this is actually really good."

"Of course it is."

"You are so full of yourself."

"But I can make a damn good drink."

"That's true." I laughed and drank some more. "I didn't know you two worked here."

"We own the place," He replied with a grin. "We are opening up tomorrow maybe."

"Maybe?"

"We need some employees. Keiichiro is the chef, I'm the bar manager and waiter. We need at least five people. One person to help me, three waitresses, and one more cook."

I pondered it a moment before asking. "Hey, um, I _really_ need a job..."

"You're hired."

"What, really?"

"Rather not take it?"

"No, no! I'll take it!" I waved my hands frantically. "By all means, I'll take it! Um... What am I taking exactly?"

Ryou hopped up on the counter and crossed his legs, looking at me. "I need someone to work with me here first. Since I'm sure we won't have too many customers at first since we don't advertise, one more person here with me will be fine. We can serve everyone at the bar until we get another waiter or waitress."

"I've never done that before..."

"It's easy. Just smile, be polite, and card anyone who looks under thirty who gets something alcoholic, which will be just about everyone you see at night. We're a bar and grill so food for lunch and dinner and bar at night for parties and such."

"How much will I get paid?"

He tilted his head to the side. "How much you want?"

"Do I keep tips?"

"Of course."

"Um, five an hour?"

"Oh come on, we're not some cheap run of the mill place. You're going to be worked to death until someone else comes."

I laughed. "Seven then?"

"Sounds great."

Smiling, I looked around. I had a job now and it seemed that I would enjoy it. The restaurant was a nice place with kind people in charge. "So it'll just be us three?"

"For a while. You have your schedule yet?"

"Nuh-uh."

"We'll need you as much as you can, how much can you work?"

"As much as I can." I drank more of the drink he gave me and licked some whip cream off my finger. "I need to get a lot of hours in so I can afford everything."

"Sorry for the delay," Keiichiro said, walking into the room with a meal for me. "Here you are, Ichigo-san, and Ryou, how many times have I told you not to sit on the counter?"

He flushed and hopped off behind the bar again and leaned on it as I was served. "I was hoping to hop off before you came back in."

"Oh wow, thank you!" I looked down at the plate and grinned. If this tasted even one percent as good as it looked, I was in for a treat.

* * *

"You really don't have to walk me home again," I told Ryou as we walked across campus. The sun was setting already, casting everything a dull red color. "Last time I stole your jacket." I fidgeted with it a moment, looking up at him.

"It looks good on you, keep it."

Blushing, I zipped it up and put my hands in the pockets. "It is comfortable." I looked over at him and chewed on my bottom lip a little. "You seem distracted. Is something wrong?"

"Well," He sighed. "It's kind of hard to explain, actually... You see..."

Before he could go any farther a large bird swooped down between us, narrowly missing me. Ryou, to my surprise, leapt clean into the air and over the bird to avoid it. Turning to look, the brown oversized falcon swept back into the air and turned. A moment later it stopped and hovered over the shoulder of a man hanging in the air.

His face was covered by some type of helmet that had a wing on either side of it. His body had a type of light armor over it, covering his arms, chest and legs. It was a shiny green that matched his hair. "Why hello there!" He called out to us, voice distorted a little. It was hardly noticeable, but I could tell a slight lag between him talking and his voice coming forth. "It seems I've found the right place." The man looked over at me. "Osiris, kill her!"

The falcon swept down again, making me scream. My body lurched to the side and I rolled a few times, realizing that Ryou had tackled me out of the way. The falcon was already once again hovering above the man in the air. "What's...what's going on?" I asked Ryou, scared.

He swallowed and stood up, helping me to my feet. "Sorry about this, Ichigo." He reached behind himself and pulled a gun like device from his pants. "I was hoping to offer this in a different type of situation..."

"Ryou!" Turning, I saw Keiichiro running toward us. His look was grim.

"Ah, both are here. I can destroy all of our resistance before it even starts. What a shame, I was hoping on having some fun first."

"What... Is he talking about?"

"Keiichiro!" Ryou handed him the gun and cast a look in my direction. "I'll distract him, you know what to do."

"Aye..."

"Don't think we don't know about your genetic plans." The man spoke again, looking at us. "I'm here to make sure it never happens."

"You're going to have a tough time doing that..." Ryou cracked his knuckles. "It may not be much, since my DNA didn't match, but I still have some in me."

"Ohhhh?" the man grinned. "We'll see about that."

In a flash, the green haired man was in front of Ryou, punching him hard in the face. Ryou's face snapped to the side, but he still managed to grab the fist that hit him and jerk on it enough to off balance him. Ryou yelled out and flipped him over his shoulder. The man with the falcon seemed amused by this, and hovered upside down in the air, looking at him. "Not bad. But not good either. Osiris, Blitz beat him!"

The falcon screeched and flapped its wings hard, shooting out something that seemed to be feathers. Several impaled onto Ryou, making him collapse to his knees. "_Shirogane!"_

"Ichigo!" Keiichiro grabbed my shoulders and held me in place. Struggling against him, I tried again to get to Ryou. "Calm down! Listen to me!" His voice rose a little and I was shocked enough to look at him. I never imagined that his voice could be anything but polite. "This here is the only thing that can save us. Put against the neck, it'll-"

Screaming out, I saw Keiichiro lurch to the side as the man air tackled him. Looking down, I saw the gun type device in front of me. Was I supposed to put it against the man's neck and pull the trigger? Shaking, I picked it up and looked at the man now walking to me.

"Hmmm. Are you the only one left?" The bird hovered behind him again, looking at me with cold green eyes. Yelling, I gripped the gun and ran forward. The man seemed amused by this and allowed me to get close enough to him to put the gun almost to the front of his neck before my wrist was grabbed. "So this is the only genetic weapon you have? A close range injection device? I was hoping for something more from the reports I've read..." He twisted my wrist, making me cry out and fall to my knees. "I wonder... What effect will this have on a human?"

"What...?" I looked up, terrified at the grin on the man's face. I then felt a small prick on the side of my neck and then an odd feeling as something was injected into me. I could feel it literally flow all the way through my veins all over my body.

Then came the pain.

Gripping my head, I screamed out and fell to the ground, hunched over and pulling on my hair. My hands started to feel two soft furry things about the same time my tailbone started to hurt as well. A searing pain shot through my spine and I felt sick. Then the world lurched and suddenly I didn't feel as if I was myself anymore...

* * *

"I think she's waking up."

"Ichigo?"

Someone rubbed a wet cloth over my forehead, making me feel immediately better. "Wha...?"

"Good, she's herself again."

"Shiro...gane...?"

"It's me. How do you feel?"

"Thirsty..."

"I'll get her a drink."

"Thanks, Keiichiro." Again a cloth was wiped over my face. "You did great, Ichigo."

"Did what...? I don't remember." I sat up slowly, realizing I was in a bed. Looking around, the room was deserted of almost all types of things normally found in one's bedroom. There were no pictures, posters, things strewn around, or anything of the sort. Only a bed, which I was currently in, and a computer desk with a laptop on it, and a mirror next to it. "Is this your room? What happened to that guy?"

"You beat him Ichigo."

"I... what?" My head felt funny, making me reach up to run my hand through my hair, only to pause at what I felt. Swallowing, I ran a finger along something that felt furry on top of my head. Testing, I pinched one, sending pain down through it. Leaning forward, I looked into the mirror. Screaming out, I pushed myself against the wall by the bed and grabbed the two cat ears on top of my head. "What's going on!?"

"You're our new biological weapon, Mew Mew." He grinned. "I was surprised when he injected you with the weapon, since that's what we wanted to do anyway."

Not listening to him, I reached behind myself and felt my tail. It twitched out of my grip and lay back on the bed. "I'm a cat." I spoke, dazed. "You turned me into a cat."

"Well, _technically_, that alien turned you into a cat. We just... kind of made the thing that did it."

"Here you are," Keiichiro spoke, walking back into the room with a large glass of water. Handing it to me, I gratefully drank almost half of it before taking a breath of air and then drinking the rest. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm scared and I want to go home..."

"It would be best if you stayed here for the time being, until we can be sure you are okay." Keiichiro took the glass from me and sat down on the bed. "Ichigo-san, you have been chosen to be head girl of the Mew Mew team, a group of five people who's DNA match that of Red Date animals..."

"Basically," Ryou cut in, "Aliens are trying to take our planet. They use Chimera parasites to attack, a type of thing that infects animals to turn them into powerful beings of destruction. We decided to fight back using DNA from Red Dates. Combined into humans with the right type of DNA, they turn into a seriously powerful warrior to protect the earth."

"Short and simple, like always." Keiichiro grinned lightly.

"Aliens...attacking earth... I have to fight them..."

"More or less."

"I need to lie down." I fell back against the bed and closed my eyes.

"You should sleep." Ryou spoke, walking out of the room. "Tomorrow you'll feel better."

"We'll be around, if you need us." Keiichiro added in as he walked out. "And Ichigo-san... What you did tonight was for the best of the world..."

The light went out and the door closed, casting darkness over me. What _did_ I do tonight? It was so confusing. All I remember was cold yellow eyes looking down at me under the helmet that that green haired male wore. A pain in my neck, and then...darkness...

Sighing, I rolled over on my stomach and pulled my pillow close around my head. Everything today has made me drowsy, and I decided to try and get some sleep.

* * *

A/N: I had to change a little of what I had planned for this story to make it a little more interesting. Also, I know this differs greatly from what the manga and anime go by, but that's the point : ). I hope you are enjoying this as much as I am writing it. Any suggestions, request, or advice is welcome. Please review if you can : )

Teaser: Looking at the door, I noticed a student in the doorway. He looked a little lost, and double checked the room number with the schedule in his hand. Finally deciding that this was the right place to be, he walked in and then noticed me. Hesitating a moment, he walked over and sat down next to me. "Hi there. My name is Kish... this is World History 101, isn't it?"


	4. Noon

"So this is the only genetic weapon you have? A close range injection device? I was hoping for something more from the reports I've read..." He twisted Ichigo's wrist, making her cry out and fall to her knees. "I wonder... What effect will this have on a human?"

_This seems...familiar._

The man in armor forced Ichigo down and pricked her neck with the device. "Show time." Pulling the trigger, he injected the liquid into her veins and leapt back to watch the show. Ichigo screamed out in pain as two cat ears came from her head and a long tail whipped out from the base of her spine.

_That's...me? _

Everything went silent a moment while the girl lay on the sidewalk, not moving. After a few seconds, the man made a disgusted sound. "What a waste. I was hoping for something interesting." Walking over to her, he moved to kick her over, but Ichigo's hand suddenly shot out and grabbed him by the ankle. "What the!?"

Ichigo leapt into the air, taking the man with her. When they reached the peak of their jump, Ichigo twisted around and threw him down hard, cracking the concrete where he landed. The man was dazed a second long enough for Ichigo to land herself and perch down on all fours, growling low in her throat. Pink hair fell into her line of vision as she bared her new fangs at him as he stood. Her tail lashed behind her furiously, as if waiting for the rest of the body it was attached to to strike.

"This makes things better," The man laughed out, amused. "It wouldn't do to have it end so soon! Come here, cat-eared girl!" He made a beckoning motion with a hand. "Come to Kisshu!"

Ichigo roared out and ran on all fours to him, tackling Kish at the last moment. Both rolled on the ground a moment before Kish landed a foot into her stomach and kicked the girl off. As she moved, her body twisted in the air and landed perfectly. Kish immediately ran to her again and lashed out his foot, kicking her to the side and making her roll several times before she could stop herself.

_I'm watching myself... What am I doing?_

"I've found myself a new toy!" Kish called out happily. "This will be better than I thought!" He pointed over to her. "Osiris. Blitz Beat!"

The falcon dived down and flapped its wings, sending several razor sharp feathers down at her. Ichigo rolled out of the way and leapt, slashing her hand and narrowly missing the bird. Landing, she roared out again and moved to attack.

Kish grabbed the girl as she went in close. "It's been fun, Honey, but I need to go now. I'll let you live so you can entertain me another day." With that, he leaned forward and kissed her, making the girl stop in her tracks. When he pulled away, he licked his lips. "Mmm, taste like strawberries!"

Kish flew backwards and then up into the air. "Osiris! To me!" The bird came at the call and then the pair of them teleported off.

"Ichigo!?" Ichigo slowly turned and looked at Ryou, once again crouching down onto all fours and snarling. "Oh man, Keiichiro, she's berserk!"

_Is this...What happened?_

"That's impossible!" He replied, walking back as Ichigo walked forward. "It should be perfect! You of all people know this!"

"Yeah, well, apparently we were wrong. A direct injection is too powerful... We need to calm her down and make her sleep. Once she rest she'll turn back to normal and explain it to her. After that she should- whoa!" Ryou leapt sideways as Ichigo pounced. "Sorry about this, Ichigo." He spoke softly, roughly clipping her in the back of the neck. Her eyes rolled back into her head and collapsed lightly into his awaiting arms.

**TMM: College Years IV**

**By: Satashi**

Sitting up, I put my hand to my forehead and breathed heavily. I was covered in sweat and was in an unfamiliar room. As the images from my dream faded, I looked around and tried to piece together everything that has happened to me. I was injected with something, I grew cat ears and a tail, and now I had to fight against aliens invading Earth. I shook my head and slid out of the bed. I was a little wobbly, but my tail moved behind me and stabilized myself. Learning how to use it to my advantage, I re-learned how to walk and made my way over to the door.

The door opened up into a hallway that lead into a living room of sorts. It was small and not much was around, just like the bedroom. Walking around, I observed everything and tried to get a feeling of the place. A few pictures were on the wall and I realized that it must be Ryou's apartment, as he and Keiichiro were in most of the pictures. I picked one of them up and observed it. A young blond, probably Ryou, was standing in front of a large mansion with two older people and a younger version of Keiichiro that I recognized from the hair.

Setting it back down, I continued my exploration of the apartment. After looking around a while more I noticed that the apartment was actually a section divided off from the restaurant. It seemed that Ryou lived on the top floor of the place. Assuming from only having one bedroom, Keiichiro had his own place.

After a few more moments of searching, I sighed and returned to the bedroom from which I had woken up in. Upon reaching the door, I noticed the bathroom next to it. Hesitating a moment, I decided that after everything that has gone on, he could at least understand me taking a bath without permission.

I picked up some cloths I found laid out next to the bed and looked at them. They were obviously Ryou's since they were large, but it _was_ kind of him to offer. It was probably Keiichiro who did it, considering this is the type of thing he seemed like he would do. Walking back to the bathroom, I locked the door and began to strip.

My eyes looked my body over in the mirror. Testing, I rubbed one of the cat ears on my head. It was soft and furry, giving me a pleasant sensation. Turning around to inspect my tail, I noticed that my stomach was much more tone than it used to be as well. Looking closer, I noticed my arms and legs were also toned as well. Disregarding this as a plus side of what was going on; I went back to my tail that was swinging lazily behind me. It too was soft and furry, even more so than my ears. Stroking my tail made my knees a little weak and my eyes heavy. It was a nice pleasant feeling. I amused myself with the mirror for a few more minutes before actually getting into the shower and turning on the water.

* * *

When I emerged from the shower, I heard people talking from downstairs. Pulling Ryou's shirt back over my shoulder from which it fell, I followed the voices to the stairs and went down them. Emerging into the restaurant, I saw Ryou and Keiichiro speaking with each other behind the bar. After a moment, Ryou noticed me and tapped Keiichiro on the shoulder and nodded over in my direction.

"Good morning, Ichigo. Sleep well?" Keiichiro motioned for me to come over to them and sit down. "You must be hungry, would you like some breakfast?"

"Yes, please."

Ryou looked over at me as Keiichiro walked off to cook something. A moment of silence went past before he leaned over and rubbed one of my cat ears. After the initial shock of it, I pulled away and glared at his amused face. "What?" He asked with a laugh. "Like you wouldn't do the same thing."

"Shut up." I sniffed, having to admit that I would have done it too. "What am I going to do about this?"

"Just wear a cap." He picked one up from under the bar that had "Mew Bar and Gril" on it and flopped it down on my head. "There's nothing we can do about them. Most people will just assume that they are a hair band if they see them."

"And my tail?"

"We'll think of something. But more importantly, we need to start finding the other members."

"Others?"

"Didn't I tell you? There are four others who will fight along side you."

"No, you didn't tell me. You didn't tell me anything."

"Well, we didn't think it would turn out this way." He pointed to my ears.

"What, didn't you even think about this at all before shoving this off on me!? Don't you even _care_!?"

Ryou rubbed his neck, and I noticed that he was wearing a chocker. He always seemed to be wearing one. "We did think about it. Believe me; if I could avoid this, I would..."

I looked down. "I'm sorry I snapped."

"Don't worry about it. The important thing is to get you registered for classes, get you started working here, and try and find the others. This is our base of operations. The bar and grill is our cover. The real hide out is downstairs."

"Sorry for the wait." Keiichiro sat a plate of pancakes and strawberries in front of me. "I hope you enjoy."

* * *

Looking at the small list in my hand, I rooted through the school bookstore in search of the required text books for my classes. My cat ears were hidden under a cap given to me by Ryou and my tail was wrapped around my waist with the tip tucked under the base of itself. Already I had gone back home and changed into some of my own cloths and now I busied myself with shopping for my classes. I sighed at all the numbers and tried to make sense of what exactly they meant. That's when I felt someone look over at me and chuckle to their self. "Freshman, right?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Kind of." He walked over to me and grinned. "Lost looking for books huh?"

"Yeah," I nodded up at him.

"It's simple really." He pointed to the first number. "See the 'H' there? That means History. The '01' means freshman course. The following numbers '62' is the text book number. So you go....Here." He pointed behind me. "To the History section. See the 'H' at the top? Yeah, so then you look at the start, here," he pointed to a shelf. "For the freshman books. Then simply look for your book number..." His finger trailed the books until he pulled one out. "Sixty-two. World History 101 for Professor Allison."

"Wow, that's it!" I took it from his gratefully. "Thank you!"

"Anytime." He grinned to wave it off, but his watch grabbed his attention. "Oh man, look at the time. Masaya's match will start soon. I gotta run."

"You know Aoyama-kun?"

The man turned as he ran and trotted backwards. "Yeah, he's my room mate! The name's Mark! Mark Rayearth!" Turning back around, he ran the rest of the way out of the book store and rounded the corner.

Clicking my tongue, I mentally debated running after him to see Masaya in an actual Kendo match, but I figured by the time I got there it would already be over from the way Mark was running. Deciding to continue my shopping, I looked down at the price tag on the book and almost dropped it. "Sixty dollars for a single book..." Quickly I moved my gaze to where Mark pulled it from earlier and looked again. I finally spotted the same book that looked a little beaten and damaged. Rooting through it, I noticed that several lines were highlighted and notes were made on the side of it. '_Buy used books_' Masaya's words came back to me and I flipped it over "Twenty bucks. I can deal with that." I slid the new book back and looked back at my list. "Psychology 101."

* * *

Looking around the campus, I finally found the Kendo building after searching for almost ten minutes. I was amazed at how many people were cluttering around it to watch. So many, in fact, that I couldn't even get close enough to even really see what was going on. I watched anyway, hopping up on some railing to get a better view. I could just barely make out Masaya in the distance, neatly side stepping a swing and calling out his attack before hitting his opponent. Each stopped, bowed, and knelt down to wait the decision of the judge, who gave the point to Masaya and thus ending his turn.

Several girls screamed out his name, once again surprising me. It seemed that Masaya was popular around here. Oh well, it seemed as if I would be able to meet up with him today to thank him for the advice on books to buy. Resorting to my phone, I looked through it for his number and clicked it for a text message.

_Saw end of match. You did great. Thanks for book advice, I owe you one. Let's talk later? –Ichigo._

I clicked the send button and waited for it to confirm. Once I got the beep, I plopped it back into my purse and headed on my way back home. It was still void of furniture, and most of my stuff was still in boxes. It seemed like I would be up late tonight...

* * *

Waking up, I slowly brought myself into a sitting position and yawned. Today was my first day of classes, as well as my first day of work. I sighed and got out of my bed, lazily making my way over to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Yawning again, I splashed my face with some cold water to try and help me wake up some more. The past few days I had been arranging my house almost non-stop. I at least now had a bed, a couch, and an entertainment center for my T.V., even if I didn't really watch it much.

I rooted through my closet and picked out a blue long sleeved shirt that flared out at the end. Pairing it with some low cut jeans, I figured the combination would allow for comfort as well as hiding my tail, which was once again wrapped around my waist. Slipping on my socks and shoes, I grabbed my backpack and made my way into the living room, where I snagged my cap from a holder next to the door that also kept my keys as well. Covering my ears, I opened my door and locked it behind myself.

The sun was out fully with no clouds this morning, making it just the right temperature in my opinion. A light breeze blew around me as I made my way down the two flights of stairs and over to my car. I wouldn't actually be driving to campus, but rather to the other side of my apartments, where I would park and then go the walk-way that we had that connected to campus. My classes weren't too terribly far, but the walk would do me good, get me used to the college and where everything was.

Luckily I had gone the day before to find all the buildings my classes were in, so I had a general idea of where all my classes were. The first being World history in a building farthest away from where I was. I considered it lucky because I would walk the farthest in the morning and not at the end while I was tired from walking all day and my classes. Quite fortunately, my last class was the closest to my apartment compared to my others.

Another smile from Lady Luck made me find my first class easily after following the main crowd of students walking around. I double checked my schedule with what was above the door and nodded to myself. The room was already over half full, so I took a seat farthest back and next to the window. The desk in this room were tables with two chairs to each. In the back of my mind, I wondered what type of person I would be stuck with for the remainder of the semester. With any luck it would be a nice person who liked to pay attention so it would make me pay more attention as well. I yawned again and shook my head. The stupid cat genes in me always made me sleepy in the mornings and in the afternoon, but gave me much more energy at night.

Looking at the door, I noticed a student in the doorway. He looked a little lost, and double checked the room number with the schedule in his hand. Finally deciding that this was the right place to be, he walked in and then noticed me. Hesitating a moment, he walked over and sat down next to me. "Hi there. My name is Kish... this is World History 101, isn't it?"

"It is," I nodded and looked him over. He had long green hair that he kept in a low ponytail. His eyes were covered by neat looking sunglasses that were tinted red, making it impossible to see his eyes underneath. He wore a maroon short sleeved shirt and khaki pants. "My name is Momomiya Ichigo. Have we...met somewhere before?"

"I don't think so. I just moved here. From...Australia."

"Australia?" I titled my head to the side. He didn't really look Australian. "I always thought they were really tan with an accent? You speak Japanese really well."

"Ah, well, my... mother is Japanese. My dad is Australian. I learned how to talk from my mom, and for my tan, I don't really get out much."

"I see." I figured that made sense. He grinned at me, making me laugh. He seemed goofy at least, so I wouldn't be stuck with a snob or anything. I was really worried about some frat boy being here. "Are you a freshman too?"

"Yeah. I'm majoring in History, how about you?"

"Not really sure. I'm just trying to get my basics out of the way until I can decide what I like." I scratched my cheek lightly. "Kind of sad, huh? Already in college and I have no idea what I want to do in life."

"Hmmmm." Kish grinned again. "Nah, it's okay. Sometimes things just happen. You have to wait for it to click with you."

The professor decided to make his appearance then, talking as he walked into the classroom. "Everyone quiet please. My name is Allison, but feel free to call me 'Professor' since I doubt many students remember the name of their teachers anyway." He got to the front of the room and looked around. "This is a very small class, so learning will be a little easier on you freshmen. Here is my syllabus," He handed a stack of papers to each student on the front row, who proceeded to take one and pass the rest back. "Yes, I will stick to this like glue, so if you miss a day, do yourself a favor and catch up on what you missed. Since this is an eight o'clock class, I figure at least seven of you will stop coming every time you're supposed to. Word to the not-so-wise, do that and you'll fail. You pay for this, so come to class every chance you get."

"I like this guy," Kish whispered to himself

"This is also a History class, which means _past_, people. If you do not like this subject, then transfer out of here as soon as you can so you won't fall behind in your new course. But for those of you who love to know things about the world and how it got to be the way that it is now, I welcome you to my class and hope you will enjoy being here every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. My office hours are from three in the afternoon until six. If you have any questions either come by then or make an appointment with me. I will work with your schedule so don't hesitate. I'm here to teach you, so if you don't learn; it's only your own fault." He hopped on his desk and crossed his legs. "So, starting off, this is many of yours first class in college so we'll take it easy for today. I'll give you an overview of what we will cover..."

I looked at Kish from the corner of my eye. He seemed intrigued at what was being said, but at the same time I could tell that he would also rather be someplace else than in school that day. His eyes glanced over at me, making me blush and look away. I heard him chuckle to himself and then jot something down on the paper in front of him. A moment later he slid the sheet over to me and I looked down at it. '_What'cha looking at?_' It read, with a small doodle of Kish's face with a piece sign.

Giggling, I wrote back '_Someone who doesn't take off his sunglasses inside a building_' and slid it back as the professor went into proper college mentality about classes and skipping them. Kish read my little note and replied with a '_Says the girl who doesn't take off her cap. I have an eye condition, I can't take them off._'

I felt bad when I read it, but Kish was still smiling as he listened to the professor while waiting for me to respond. I couldn't help but look at him again. I could swear that I've seen him someplace before, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"And I'll be looking forward to seeing you all Wednesday, first thing." The professor was finishing up. "Class dismissed."

Standing, I noticed that already almost an hour has gone by. Kish slug his backpack over his shoulder and waved at me lightly before walking off and to the door as he pulled out his schedule from his pocket to see where he was heading off to next. Deciding to follow his example, I too pulled my schedule out from my pocket and went about looking for my next class, which was Psychology 101.

* * *

My last class finished up and we were released a little early, giving me plenty of time to walk from the class room to the Restaurant where I worked. Although I didn't start for another few hours, I was sleepy and didn't feel like walking all the way back to my apartment just to nap and come back. Besides, I have spent the past two days there a lot as it is, and it already felt nice and comfortable to me. Ryou and Keiichiro treated me really nice as well. Actually, Keiichiro treated me nice. Ryou was still an arrogant jerk at times, but I've come to accept that about him.

Opening the door, I looked around and called out to them that I was there. Keiichiro looked up from arranging a few tables and smiled at me. "Welcome Ichigo. How was your first day of classes?"

"Fine, I managed to find them all at least. We didn't really do anything yet."

"Meet any new friends?"

"One. His name is Kish, does that sound familiar?"

"Kish?" He thought about it. "Well...the alien we fought said his name was 'Kisshu'."

I shook my head. "No, that's impossible. Like he would go to college. They'd have to do too much. Faking an ID, signing up, blood testing, registering for classes, that's just stupid."

Keiichiro laughed. "I agree. What are you up to now? Would you care for some lunch?"

"Actually I think I need a small nap." I yawned and stretched out. "Those cat genes do more than make me able to fight against aliens." I took off my cap and scratched my hair. Also my tail unfurled from my waist and lay out behind me, swaying lightly as I walked.

"Ryou's up in his room, he probably won't mind if you lay on his bed for a while."

"Thanks Keiichiro!"

I ran up the stairs to the apartment on the second floor. I looked around a little bit before trailing my hand along the wall as I walked to Ryou's bedroom. His door was open, so I lightly tapped on it as I walked in. The blond haired American was sitting at his desk looking at several papers in front of him. "Hi, Shirogane."

"Hi."

I sniffed a little. "I had a good day at college for my first time."

"That's nice." He picked up a letter and opened it. Looking it over, he wrote out a check and placed it in a return envelope and sealed it.

"Doing paper work?" I walked over to him and looked over his shoulder.

"Yeah." He picked up another envelope and tore the side off of it. "You need something?"

"Mou, you could at _least_ pretend to be interested in my day." I walk over to his bed and flopped down on it. "I'm going to sleep."

Ryou paused a moment, looking over at me, but went back to his work. "I'll wake you when it's time for work then.

"Yes, please do." I sighed lightly and kicked my shoes off before curling up under the covers of his bed and closing my eyes.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed. I actually made it a little longer than usual this time ; hope that makes up for the short chapters. It should start to pick up from here since everyone has been introduced and the basic foundation has been laid down. I don't know how long this story will go, but so far not many people have read it. Soooooo should I just cut it off here and work on short stories again? Review please and tell me .

Oh, and to answer one question asked by Isuki, Kish wears a helmet and armor to cover his identity. I did that so Ichigo could see him in battle and in school and not connect the two for a while at least. This way I can have some Kishigo moments as well in the story.

I plan to keep this as original as I can, so the OC character Mark has come into this story from my _College Mew Mew_ story. Also another character, Darren, will show up as well as Masaya's other room mate. I guarantee these three people will make you laugh.

Teaser:

Mark ran over to me and kneeled down, as I was leaning against Masaya's bed reading my History assignment. "Hey, Ichigo, can I have a few strands of your hair?"

"My hair...? I guess so, why?" I pulled one or two strands from my ponytail and prepared to pluck them.

"Darren and I are stunning flies and tying little leashes on them, but our hair isn't long enough."

A moment later Mark walked back into his room and flopped down next to Darren, who had a rolled up piece of newspaper in his hand. "She suddenly said she had to go take a shower."

"What a weirdo." Darren sighed.

(thanks to Mac Hall for several ideas)


	5. Evening

"What have you discovered, Kish?" a voice asked

"Nothing we didn't already know. Earthlings have several stages of education, 'college' being the highest. I have successfully entered myself in to observe them like you requested, but I still don't see what the point of all of this is."

"Don't talk back to Deep Blue!" a new voice spoke up, angry. "Just do as you're told."

"Che. Fine. My lord, Deep Blue, I will continue to mingle with the earthlings, as well as Ichigo, who is one of the 'Mew Mew' group. Already we have spoken, and soon we will become friends. I will have the inside information soon."

"Good. Don't disappoint me, Kish. You're my best officer."

"Of course."

**TMM: College Years V**

**By: Satashi**

"Wakey wakey!" Ryou shook me, waking me up from my pleasant dreams of eating the world's largest doughnut. "Ichigo, time to get ready for work."

"I'm sleepy," I complained, rolling over and pulling a pillow close to me. "Just five more minutes."

"You said that ten minuets ago now get up. We open in thirty minuets and we need to be ready. Come on." To my surprise, the covers were pulled off of me and I was lifted out of bed and set on my feet.

"You didn't have to go that far," I yawned and got my footing with a little help of my tail. I'm up, I'm up. I'll be ready in just a moment." I rubbed my eyes and stretched out. "Already time to work, I'm a little nervous."

"Just smile and be polite. Ask me if you need any help." He handed me a white box. "Here, I had this made for you."

"For me?" I opened it up and gasped lightly. "Oh wow, it's so cute!" The outfit was strawberry red, complete with white trim. _Mew Bar and Grill_ was written on the front of the shirt, which I could tell would be a tight fit. The blue jeans with it flared out at the bottom and had little red studs going down the side of them. The very bottom was laced with the studs as well. One thing I noticed was the belt loops at the top of the jeans. Each of them was snap-on at the bottom and was a little larger than normal.

"I told you it was specially made. Try it on." He walked past me and out his room, closing the door behind himself.

Shrugging, I stripped down and laid my things on his bed. Pulling the shirt on first, I adjusted it and moved around a little to get it in place fully. It was tight, but at the same time easy to move in. Unfortunately it also showed a little of my stomach when I held my arms up. Snagging the pants, I noticed another snap on the back of them. I thought it was rather cute design, and put those too on. Finally reclaiming my shoes, I opened the door to let Ryou back in.

"How do they fit?"

"Perfectly." I spun around for him and giggled. "Thanks a lot."

"I felt like it."

I smiled. "Sure you did. But what about my tail and ears?"

"Turn around."

"Eh? What for?" I turned and looked over my shoulder at him. When his hands trailed along the base of my tail, I gasped and pulled away a little. "Pervert!"

"It's not like that, idiot. Stand still." He moved forward again, and I watched him again as he took my tail and snapped a clip just above it, so my tail looked as if it came out of the jeans instead of hanging on top of them. I then realized what was going on as he moved my tail around my waist and snapped each belt look over it to keep it in place. "There."

"Oh wow!" I spun around and jumped a little, extremely pleased that it didn't come unwrapped. "It looks just like a belt!" Not helping myself, I gave him a hug and bounced excitedly. "This is great! I was so worried about it!"

"Let go," He pulled away a little and blushed, making me laugh.

"You're act all tough, but deep down you're really a sweet guy."

"Not really." He grabbed a hair band from his desk and put it on my head, pressing down my cat ears. "Just don't do anything to knock this off, or your ears will pop up.

"Right." I nodded and then looked at his mirror and shook my head to see how much force it would take to knock it away. Finally ready now, I turned back to him and smiled. "So are we ready to go now?"

"Yeah, come one." He put his arms behind his head and walked out of his room with me following.

* * *

"Welcome!" I called out to the people walking in the door. "Please, have a seat!" I motioned to two empty places at the bar. So far we were doing a little better than we thought we would. The bar was large, able to seat at least thirty five people. Twenty four of said seats were now currently occupied by people either eating dinner, drinking, or both. "What can get for you?"

"Just a scotch on the rocks for me."

"And some nice Sex on the Beach for me."

I blushed darkly. Was this guy hitting on me?

"It's a cocktail," Ryou whispered in my ear. "Vodka, Peach schnapps, Orange juice, Cranberry juice. The measurement charts are under the blenders."

Nodding, I smiled at the people who ordered. "Just a moment then!" I waved to them lightly, making them smile. The blender, well, one of four, were in the middle of the bar. I opened the small refrigerator under them and took out the ingredients and checked the drink chart on the inside of them. Nodding to myself, I began to mix the drink before grabbing some scotch and pouring it in a small glass with some ice. By then the drink was done so I reached to pick up the blender, but found a hand stopping me.

"No blending, just serve."

"Right." I nodded at Ryou and put on a smile, bringing the drinks to the two college students. "Here you go."

"Why not pour yourself a shot on us?" One of them asked, grinning and taking a shot glass that was set upside down on the bar and slid it to me.

"Me? I, um,"

"Aw go ahead. Always treat a cute bartender to a drink, it's only polite."

Swallowing, I put on a smile and nodded. "Thanks!" I grabbed a random dark liquid bottle and pulled the cork, filling the glass halfway full. "Cheers then!"

"Cheers!" The guys tapped their glasses to mine and I downed the drink coughing. This only made the guys laugh, but I smiled at them anyway.

I felt the drink almost instantly. Taking the bottle I walked over to Ryou, who was currently rooting through the freezer to get some ice. "Ryou, what did I just drink?" I showed him the bottle, getting a whistle.

"That's hardcore stuff there. One seventy proof. Four more of those and you'll hit the floor."

"Great," I muttered and put the bottle back and went to sever some people who just finished their drinks. These were eating a meal, though, so I easily made small conversation with them as I re-filled their tea.

The shot I took made me loosen up a little bit at least, and I no longer felt as scared as I did when I first started. In fact, as the time went on, I actually started to have some fun. I copied Ryou a little bit as he talked with the customers and I learned several different things as the night continued. Ryou seemed to be popular, as many girls who came in flirted with him after seeing who he was. When I thought about it, Ryou was probably not too much older than me. He might be a senior or at least a junior here at college. I would have to ask him about that later.

"I'm _not_ doing that," A familiar voice came as two people walked in. "Mark, you're an idiot."

"No I'm not." Mark, the boy I met a while ago in the bookstore, disagreed with his room mate. "I'm a genius." The two sat down at the bar. "You know what you need?"

"A new best friend?"

"Too right you are! Let me introduce you." Mark called out over to me now. "Hey cutie, two Samuel Adams in a bottle!"

"Coming right up!" I replied, blushing and getting the bottles from a section under the bar that kept them all cold. "Here you are." I popped the tops for them and slid them over.

"Hey, I've met you!" Mark realized, pointing. "In the book store. You were...Hey, are you Ichigo by any chance?"

"I am."

"Wow, you're a cute one!" He was about to say something else, but Masaya elbowed him in the ribs. "Ow..."

"How are you, Momomiya-san?" Masaya asked me.

"Good, how about you?" I looked down a little bit. Masaya hasn't contacted me since I've sent him the text message a few days ago.

"I'm all right I guess. Good day at college? Find all of your classes okay?"

"Um, yeah. I got them just fine. Rayearth-san helped me and-"

"Mark." Mark cut in with a grin. "I'm from England originally; I don't do this last name first stuff. Just call me Mark."

"Okay. Mark, then, helped me with my books. I used the same thing to find my classes."

"That's good."

"Um..."

"Ichigo, I need you over here!" Ryou suddenly called, making me bow to them and run off to see what he needed. "What is it?"

"Take this to Keiichiro," He handed me a receipt for a meal order. "Put it on the turn table in there and hurry back."

"Right!" I nodded at him and trotted to the door leading to the kitchen. Turning around a corner, I walked into it, amazed as Keiichiro kept everything going by himself. "Oh wow, you're doing awesome in here!"

"Thank you." Keiichiro replied, looking up. "What can I do for you?"

"Oh!" I held up the slip. "New order. Um..." I looked around.

"right there." He pointed with his knife to a silver thing hanging from a cabinet. "Clip it on, spin to so the new ticket faces me and say "Order up"

"I ran over to it, did as he requested, and spun it. "Order up!"

"Thank you. And here is an 'Order in' as well. That means it's ready to go out and serve. Look on the ticket; it's marked on there where it goes. Serve from your left to your right from the first person to the last. If you're not sure about if you wrote it down right or not, simply say 'Who got the, whatever, and serve it to whoever says something or nods. It's not hard."

"Right!" I took the tray and started to carry it out.

"One hand. Hold it up flat on your palm so you can maneuver better. Don't worry, you won't drop it."

I shivered a little and did as I was asked, praying I didn't tip the tray over and spill it all over someone. As I made my way back to the bar, I looked at the slip and went to where two people were waiting. Smiling to them I gave them their meals and asked if there was anything else I could do for them. After this, I walked back to the bar and over to Mark, who was singling to me. "Yes? What can I get you?"

"I need a Margarita, and Masaya would like you to give him screaming multiple orgasms."

"Mark!"

I blushed darkly as Mark laughed. "Hey man, not my fault you're still a virgin."

"Hey!"

"It's his favorite drink," Mark told me, ignoring his friend. "He's just too shy to ask for it by name, so he gets me to."

"C-Coming right up."

"Hope so!"

Mark was elbowed in the ribs once again, making him wince. "Hey man, I was only teasing," He whispered to Masaya, rubbing his side.

"Ryou, what's a 'Screaming Multiple Orgasm?'"

"A lot of fun."

I blushed for the third time that night. "Idiot!"

Ryou laughed happily, smiling like I've never seen him do before. "Simple. Orange liqueur, Bailey's Irish cream, Galliano, Milk, Strawberries. Add them in that order over ice. Check the charts for measurements." He patted my head as I walked by him and over to the freezer area and picked out the ingredients. Making their drinks, I carried them over to the boys and handed them over.

"Here you are," I smiled. "One girly drink and one orgasm."

"Hey!"

Masaya broke out laughing and had to put his head down on the counter a moment to collect himself, body still shaking.

I ran lightly to the kitchen and leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. "I can't believe he's here." I muttered out. It had only seen the boy three times and already I was getting a crush on him.

"Who?" Keiichiro asked me as he cooked.

"Aoyama-kun," I told him, looking down. "A very nice boy, but I haven't talked to him lately. I think he's avoiding me. He even promised me a date."

"May be he is just too busy...Here, tell you what." Keiichiro wiped his hands and opened a drawer. "Here. Two tickets to get into the Red Date animal show. It's in the museum close by. Already sold out, so I'm pretty sure he hasn't been. It'll do you good to go as well, so you can see what all you are protecting."

"Oh thank you!" I took them from Keiichiro and smiled up at him happily. "You sure this is okay?"

"Of course! Now go out there and ask him before he leaves."

"Right!" I ran back out into the restaurant, just in time to see Mark toss down some money and wave to Ryou, who nodded at him. The two room mates walked to the door and went through it just as I passed my partner. "Shirogane, I'm going outside for a bit, I'll be right back, I swear!"

"If you must." He agreed and I ran past him and out the door. Looking around, I spotted the two walking towards the parking lot.

"I still don't see what you are so upset about," Mark spoke, putting his hands in his pockets. "She's cute, a red-head, and obviously interested in you. You saw the way she blushed."

"Yeah, just like every other girl stalking me. How do I know she isn't just after the kendo captain? I don't want to go through what I had with the last dates I've had."

"Her name is in your _phone_ man! When's the last time you had a girl in your phone? High school?"

"She came to my match, and watched it."

"And didn't bother you about it! She just texted you and that was it! Just go for it! She's not like the other girls I bet! She's interested in you, not your status!"

"I don't know."

"Um..."

Both guys turned around and looked at me. I swallowed and tried to look at Masaya, but couldn't quite bring myself to. "I... don't want to be a bother...I, um...Just..." I bowed quickly. "I'm sorry I annoyed you, I won't bother you anymore!" I turned and ran off, dropping the tickets in the process.

"Hey, wait! Momomiya-san!"

I didn't stop. '_He thinks I'm annoying_.' I thought to myself, closing my eyes tight. '_You're so stupid, Ichigo! A boy like him wouldn't be interested in you!_' I opened the door to the restaurant and closed it behind me, wiping my eyes.

"Ouch," Mark spoke from outside. "Busted clean in the act. I bet she's crying."

"You're not helping, Mark."

The sandy blond looked down and picked up the tickets dropped earlier. After reading them, he let out a whistle. "You blew it big time, buddy. Look at this." He showed his friend the tickets. "Passes to the Red Date animal show that you couldn't get tickets for. They sold out almost a month ago; I bet she called in some massive favors to get these."

"Oh man..." Masaya took them and read them over. "No girl around here would want to go to that, let alone ask a boy out to go with them..."

"Looks like your perfect girl just ran away." Mark sighed. "You, my friend, got to pull some serious moves to get that one back after this."

"You said it."

"Tell you what. I'll loan you my car again. You can get some flowers, go to her apartment and apologize. Then show her that you kept the tickets and say how much you really wanted to go see it."

"Right now I just feel like going home and sleeping."

"Sounds good. You need to wake up early; these things are for Wednesday so you don't have much time."

* * *

Closing the door behind me, I wiped my eyes and walked back to the bar, putting on a fake smile and addressing the new people sitting down. "What can I get for you?"

"A shot of whisky, strongest you have."

"Coming right up." I pulled a shot glass over and flipped it up, grabbing the bottle of whisky from on top the bar. "Here you go." I filled it up and slid it to him.

"Why not pour yourself one as well, cutie? Maybe a daiquiri to sip on while you work?"

"Actually, this would work wonders right now." I mused, pouring myself a shot and drinking it, making several guys cheer around me. Coughing, I covered my mouth and sniffed since my nose was suddenly running.

Several jokes with the guys around the bar and serving over twenty shots later with some people having a contest, I was offered another drink from them, which I took. Two more later and I found myself suddenly feeling very warm and strange inside. I barely managed to put the glass back on the bar top before I started to fall back and into Ryou's arms. "Oops." He looked at me, and I grinned stupidly up to him. "Yup, one too many free drinks." He hefted me up and put me over his shoulder so I was looking at the ground. From this angle I realized that Ryou had a pretty cute butt on him. "This girl's out for the night, so no more cute bartender for you guys!" He called out, getting a few whoops and 'aww'ing sounds. "Free beer on the house!" He called out, sliding a twelve pack on top of the bar. "Keep yourselves entertained until I get back!"

"Hear hear!" they called out.

Suddenly the ground started to move and I realized somehow that I was being carried up the stairs and to Ryou's bedroom. "Here you go." He laid me down on his bed and took my head band off, letting my cat ears up. Ruffling my hair, he smiled down at me. "Remind me to teach you not to do that again. Stay here, we close soon. I'll be back."

When the lights were cut out and Ryou left, I laid on the bed for a while before realizing that I was rather uncomfortable. Sitting up I laughed as my body couldn't quite seem to sit still. A few moments later I was stable enough to pull up my shirt, which got caught in my hair. It took almost half a minute to get it completely off. Shaking my head to fix my hair, I immediately wished I didn't do that as the world started to spin around me.

It took a while but I finally rid myself of my cloths and now stood in my underwear. I somehow realized through the haze in my mind that I needed to cover myself up a little bit so I raided Ryou's closet for a good shirt I could use to get comfortable in. Finding one, I slid it on and was pleased to find it going a little past my knees. Now content with what I was wearing, I let my bra unclasp and I wiggled it off and tossed it over with my messy pile of cloths randomly strewn on his floor. Now that I was ready for bed, I let my eyes roll back in my head and passed out, stone drunk.

* * *

The light invading my eyes woke me up sometime later. At first I thought that it was already morning, but when Ryou's body blocked most of the light, I realized that it was just the light from the hallway that had awoken me from my sleep and not the sun. "You look positively happy," He spoke to me, grinning. "What have we learned from this?"

"Not so loud," I moaned, rolling over and shielding my eyes. "Turn off the light, it hurts."

"A hangover already? Or are you just super weak to alcohol? Ichigo, what's five time seven?"

"I don't know, leave me alone."

"Yup, you're still drunk. Come on, get up. I'm taking you home."

"I don't wanna go home," My words were slurring lightly. "I wanna sleep."

"Not in my bed your not. Come on," He pulled the covers back and lifted me up in his arms. "You little thief, that's like the third pair of cloths you've stolen from me."

I let my head fall against his chest and I laughed lightly, making my head hurt. "You can have mine."

"I'll pass. Let's go." He shifted me and I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around his neck. He smelt of different types of drinks all mixed into one. I assumed that it was from working and his normal scent would have to be much, much more pleasant than this one.

I dozed off lightly and when I awoke I was being placed in a car. After the door closed I once again drifted off until I was taken out of the car again and carried up some stairs. "You said your apartment was on the top floor, right?"

"Three oh seven," I cooed at him, nuzzling his neck. For some reason I felt like I wanted to make out with him. "Wanna stay at my place tonight baby?"

"No thanks." He answered easily as he shifted me so he could put one hand in his pocket and pull out my keys. He must have tried three or four of them before he found the one that fit the lock on my door. Giggling, I allowed him to carry me to my bed room and lay me down. "Sleep well, Ichigo. Good thing you don't have classes tomorrow. I put my cell number in your phone." He sat my cell phone on the table next to my bed. "If you need anything, call me okay? Don't leave your room until morning. Understand?"

I nodded dumbly up at him. "Sure you dun wanna stay wif me?" My words were getting worse and I laughed at him for no reason.

"Good girl." He patted my head. "Sleep."

Suddenly swallowing, my stomach turned. "I suddenly don't feel very good..."

Ryou sighed heavily as I swallowed again. "Great. I knew I should have let Keiichiro take you on, little cat girl." He helped me out of bed and half dragged – half helped me to the bathroom, where I collapsed next to the toilet. "Remind me to buy you some hair bands..." he made a face and swept my hair into a ponytail and held it as I got sick. "You _really_ owe me for this..."

* * *

I never knew waking up could be so painful. At first it was a dull throbbing pain at my eyelids, where the sun was coming in through my windows that have yet to have curtains on them. It wasn't until I sat up and opened my eyes that I truly knew to definition of the words 'hung over'. The world titled to the side and a migraine came all at once. Groaning, I held my head and stumbled to my bathroom, where I tore open the heachache medicine I got from my mom when I moved out. Not even bothering with water, I swallowed two of them and sank down by the cabinet. "Good lord, why did I drink that stuff?"

Marking this off as one of the dumber things I would do in college, I was reminded of the time in high school where my idiotic friends got me smoking. Although that particular nasty habit lasted the good part of six months, I didn't think I would be drinking shots again any time soon.

With a groan, I managed to pick myself up and walk weakly to my kitchen and open my refrigerator. I still haven't been shopping yet for all my house hold survival items just yet, but I at least had enough sense to buy frozen things and some drinks. After rooting around for a moment, I took out some things for a sandwich and a Mountain Dew.

After I had some food in me, I felt incredibly better. My headache was slowly fading and I no longer felt like crawling in bed every time I looked at a light source. Now fed and content, I walked back to my room and realized for the first time what I was wearing. I blinked and pondered how exactly I ended up in one of Ryou's shirts, but I didn't really feel like wondering on it. Taking it off, I tossed it into my dirty cloths hamper and rooted around in my closet for something to wear today.

There was a sudden knocking at my door, making me wince in pain and hold my head. "Ah, not so loud," I complained, quickly pulling on a random tee and some khaki pants. When the knocking came again, I called out that I was coming and held my head again. I figured it was Ryou coming to check up on me since I kind of passed out on him last night, so I didn't bother with socks or anything else.

I opened the door just in time to realize that I didn't have my hat on. Quickly, I grabbed up a spare cap I kept next to the door and shoved it on my head, barley making it on before the door was open all the way. My tail hung behind me lazily, too weak to move around as it normally did. I stood with my legs together, trying to hide it. Who was at the door surprised me greatly.

"Good Afternoon," Masaya spoke a little awkwardly. "Um, I'm not bothering you am I?" He scratched the back of his head. I looked down a little, remembering now why I had downed whisky at the bar. "Here, there are for you." I saw him reach from behind him and hold out something. Blinking, I realized that it was a bouquet of flowers.

"Aw, they're so pretty!" I smelled of them and smiled. "But, what for? I thought I annoyed you..."

"It's not like that at all," He motioned with his hands, which I thought was kind of cute. "You see, I've had some really bad experiences with dating girls and I just kind of got into a mindset that they were all the same... but I realized a little too late that you was different... so I want to say I'm sorry."

"Oh." I felt better now, but still a little hurt. "Okay. Apology accepted." I looked back down at the flowers. At least he was a cute gentleman.

"And if you want, I promised you I'd show you around." He held up the tickets that I had dropped last night. "And, um, these are yours too."

"Thank you." I reached for them and hesitated at the last moment, leaving my fingertips touching them. I blushed a little and looked down. "Actually... I was going to ask you to come with me. But I guess something like this wouldn't interest you would it?"

"You kidding?" I looked up, amazed. "I've been trying to get tickets to go in that museum the moment I heard about it!"

Okay, so he was a cute- dork – gentleman. "You want to go?"

"I'd love to."

I smiled. "Well then, it's tomorrow right? Where should we meet?"

"Actually, I live on the other side of the complex." He pointed to the side. "About a six minuet walk that way or so. Can I just pick you up?"

"That would be lovely. Oh, do you want to come in? I'm sorry; I'm a little out of it today."

"I can't stay; actually, my friends are waiting on me. I had to bribe them to give me enough time to stop by and apologize. We're going shopping; have to re-stock a lot of things since there is a huge sale going on for all new college students."

"I haven't even bought anything yet..."

"You want to come?" He suddenly thought better of it. "But then you'd have to meet Darren and Mark when they are together..."

I laughed. "Is that a bad thing?"

"You have _no_ idea. But you're welcome to come. You need some help to get the right things. We all have a year experience already, Darren has two."

"Sure then! Can I have a few min to get ready?"

"Absolutely. We'll come back in about fifteen minutes?"

"That would be great, nyan" I clamped my hand over my mouth. Did I just...meow?

Masaya grinned. "Okay then. Back soon." He waved lightly and turned, running lightly to the stairs and sliding down the rail.

Closing the door, I leaned against it and sighed audibly. "At least he didn't notice my tail..."

* * *

"Woohoo!" Mark screamed out loudly as he crouched down in the shopping card with his arms out as if he was surfing. Darren, Masaya's other room mate, was currently pushing the buggy before hopping on himself to go along with the ride. "Ah! Car! Port side!"

"Port side!" Darren echoed, hopping back on the pavement while running and steering away from the oncoming vehicle.

"You weren't kidding, were you...?" I asked, blushing darkly and looking away as if I didn't know them. I had my cap on again to cover my ears, and my tail was wrapped around my waist. I mentally told myself to get some more pants tailored like my work outfit for my tail.

"Nope. I wasn't kidding." Masaya seemed to be used to this, and was walking as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on. "Although we were all banned from K B Toys for the 'Pikachu Incident'. That was a good one."

"I don't want to know."

Masaya had some interesting room mates to say the least. Mark, who I already kind of knew, was more of a goof ball than I thought at first. He was currently wearing a black long sleeved shirt with baggy blue jeans and a backwards baseball cap. His right shoe always seemed to be untied, although he stopped every now and then to solve this problem. From the ride to the store with him, I already knew that no moment would be dull with him around.

Darren on the other hand was the type of person who didn't just goof off, but planned to act silly. It was obvious that he was smart, and he was in his third year of college. But he had this air about him that made me think that he would think up a crazy idea and not hesitate to do it. He and Mark made a good team.

Masaya seemed to be the one of the group who had the one thing the other two lacked: Common sense. He was mature, but I could tell that he also knew how to have a good time. Living with those two for a full year would do it to anyone. Mark was the only one who had a car out of the group. Masaya rode a bike and Darren preferred to skate board. I gathered this much from all the jokes passed back and forth in the trip.

"Come on guys!" Darren called, waving to us from the door to the store.

"Yeah, yeah!" Masaya shouted back, picking up his pace a little bit.

When we reached the buggies, Masaya put his hand on my shoulder and leaned a little close to my ear. "How much you want to buy today, Momomiya-san? You'll fill up two buggies and cost almost over a hundred and fifty dollars if you want to get everything all at once."

"I'll get the necessities until I get a paycheck," I whispered back to him. "Can't push too much at once."

"Good idea." He retreated from me and put his hands in his pockets, walking next to me and behind his other two friends.

"I'm going to hit up the electronics!"

"No you're not; we're here for supplies, not entertainment."

"Just get what we need," Masaya called to them. "Our scholarship money doesn't come in for another few weeks so we'll be tight for a while."

"But I _need_ a forty-two inch plasma flat screen TV man!"

"And we also _need_ to eat for the rest of the month." Darren countered. "Come on Mark, let's go for the supplies." He turned to us. "Masaya, bud, you show Momomiya-chan what all to get. We'll meet up later to see if anything else needs to be gotten." He held up a list and tore it in half, giving the bottom section to Mark. "Let's boogie man."

I looked over at Masaya and smiled. "So I get an escort around the big bad dangerous Super center?"

"Hey, it's more dangerous than you think." We started to walk side by side. "You'll be amazed at everything you want to buy that you don't need to. It's like text books for college. If you can't go cheap, you probably don't need them at all."

"I see... I think." We turned down the first isle and started to walk. "Ah, got to have paper towels!" I reached for the brand my mother always got, but Masaya's hand took mine in mid reach.

"Nuh-uh. That brand cost six bucks."

"So?" I looked over at him confused. "Is that bad?"

He pointed to another off-brand. "This one here is only four dollars and it has two more rolls in it."

"But isn't it weaker than this one? It's way cheaper."

"Doesn't mean it isn't better." He winked at me. "You ever test them out? This kind actually works a lot better than that, and it cost less and you get more for your money. I know it's only about two dollars, but when you think about it, you're going to be buying almost fifty different things. Even if you only save one dollar on some of them, that's still a good chunk of a paycheck you save."

"I see!" I nodded and grabbed the kind he recommended. "What else like that can I do?"

"Paper plates are a definite no-no. Of course they _seem_ cheaper, but think how many you'll use. I recommend getting...well, do you plan on partying a lot at your place or not?"

"I'll probably go to clubs or other parties. I don't plan well. Plus I'm not popular."

"Then get some really nice glass or china plates and such. It's expensive, yeah, but you'll have a lot better standard-of-living feel to your house. It's more comfortable, and you won't feel as down when things go wrong. Say you fail an exam, have a cold, haven't been home in a while, and you come home to an apartment with paper plates, throw away cups, a bean bag, and trash all over the place. How would you feel?"

"Pretty slimy."

"And if you had the same day to a nice apartment with posters on the wall, some good chairs, you have nice clean plates to eat off of, and an actual container that won't break and spill your drink if you squeeze it to hard. A nice hot meal will make you feel a lot better than nuking some frozen dinner on a paper plate, you know?"

"Wow. You want to move in with me?"

He laughed and shook his head. "Love to, but I sleep in only my boxers and have a bad habit of raiding the fridge at two in the morning. We'd have some issues to deal with."

I giggled at him and we started to walk again. For some reason I wasn't really nervous around him as much anymore. Maybe it was his goofy friends, or how he seemed to know a lot about things I had questions about, but I honestly felt like we became real friends that day.

And I liked that.

* * *

A/N: Well, I _was_ planning on writing another 3,000 words before I ended this chapter, but I haven't updated in a while so I decided to cut it off before I was completely finished with my idea I had for this one. The other Mew Mews _should _start coming in now that I have a more basis of what's going on. I hope you like Mark and Darren, they play a lot of roles in the story. Mainly for comedy. Also it helps to have extra characters for when the other 4 mew mews haven't shown up yet. Anyway, I'm rambling again.

Quick poll in reviews: Do you want me to update every other day or so with 3,000 words or would you rather wait 4-6 days and have about 6,000-8,000 words all at once? Or how about just posting a chapter when it's done, which may be anywhere from 3,000 words to 10,000 words. My old Harry Potter fanfics had 12 chapters of 10,000 words each so I know I can do it. so, I'll leave it up to you

Teaser: none this time, sorry ;


	6. Twilight

At least my apartment looked good now. I had a full blown living room with a couch, coffee tables, TV stand, art on my walls, and a rug on the floor. My kitchen was super well stocked with things that I could cook easily, as well as other things such as spices and quick meals. I felt like I really had a _home_ now. The guys were nice enough to follow me to almost every single furniture shop in town and help me move things in and set them up with me. My bed room has a suite to it now with an oak dresser and matching night stand and desk. My bathroom had a nice red theme going for it, and all-in-all I was very pleased with myself for choosing them.

**TMM: College Years VI**

**By:**

**Satashi**

"Man, what a day," Darren spoke, lying on my couch.

"You said it. I don't think I can move." Mark was crashed out in my recliner with Masaya leaning against it.

"At least we got her moved in completely."

"And a free dinner." I laughed and dropped a few lasagna noodles into a large pot before checking my sauce.

"Never turn down a free meal," Mark spoke, nodding. "Everyone knows that rule." The guys shared a laugh before Mark got to his feet and walked next to the T.V. "Hey, Ichigo, you play guitar?" He picked up the acoustic from the stand.

"Mm? No, it's my dad's. He gave it to me. I just use it for decorating. It adds flare."

Mark sat down on the couch after Darren leaned up to make room. Testing, he strummed the strings, getting a horrid sound. "Oh man, tune that thing." Darren complained, wincing."

"Sod off." Mark grinned and started to tune it. I was interested, but cooking was taking most of my attention. After a few minutes of plucking strings, he finally strummed them all again, getting a pleasant sound. "Much better."

"You play?"

"Of course!"

Masaya sat down in the recliner and leaned forward. "He plays a lot. Non-stop even."

"Music major." Mark exclaimed proudly.

"Same here." Darren agreed, nodding. "Masaya over there is an earth science major. What a loser."

Before Masaya could respond, a simple tune filled the room and Mark began to sing. "Tiny salmon in a stream....tiny salmon chasing that impossible dream! The mina bird says..."

"Ah! Ah-ah!" Darren laughed, making a bird sound.

Still going, Mark continued. "The chimpanzee says..."

"ehhhhhhehehehehehehehe!" Masaya filled in.

"The friendly owl says..."

The music stopped and everyone looked over at me. "Who?" I tried lamely to imitate an owl. A few more cords were strummed and they looked again. "Who-who?"

Mark continued. "But the salmon can only say...." Here, he made some sounds that sort of sounded like bubbles popping. "And it's saaaaaaaad."

"Excellent!" Darren applauded.

"The best!" Masaya agreed, laughing.

I shook my head. "You guys are such losers." They all laughed and went into another song while I cooked for them.

A few hours and three very stuffed guys later; it was time to say our goodbyes. The boys all offered to help clean up the mess made by cooking and all of us eating together while watching the tonight show with Conan and laughing. I refused them and shooed them out of my apartment telling them to get a lot of rest after working so hard hauling my furniture around. After Mark and Darren waved at me before running down the stairs, Masaya turned to me and smiled.

"Thanks for dinner, Momomiya-san."

"I was happy to cook for you guys." I bowed lightly. "Thanks for all of the help. I don't know what I would have done without you there to help me move and show me what to buy..."

"Anytime." He scratched the back of his neck. "So, um, I'll come by to pick you up tomorrow? What time is a good time?"

"I get off class at noon. Anytime after that. What's your schedule?"

"Same." He grinned. "Tuesday and Thursday off, right?"

"Of course."

"Then how about-" his voice was cut off as a car horn honked.

"Masaya, just kiss her and come on already!" Darren's voice shouted up at us, making me blush darkly.

"Shut _up_ Darren!" Masaya shouted back, a little red as well. "Geeze, I swear..." He grinned at me lightly. "They're great guys, though."

"I can tell." I yawned lightly. "Ack, I'm sleepy."

"I'll go then. I'll give you a call, okay?"

"Sounds good."

He smiled and turned to go and I waved. After seeing him go down the stairs, I walked over to my balcony and looked down, seeing Mark sitting on the car hood. "Get any tongue?" He asked, grinning from ear to ear.

Masaya, in return, grabbed him and gave him the noogie of his life. Grinning, I shook my head and walked back into my apartment. Sliding the door close, I took off my cap and scratched my ears as they came up from being pressed against my head all day long. Walking to my bathroom, I let my tail unwrap from my waist and sling out behind me. It waved as I walked like always, pleased to finally be let free to hang down.

* * *

I closed my door and locked it, humming as the cool morning air washed over me. It was a bright morning today, something I liked. I slid down the rail by the stairs to the second floor and then again for the first floor. Landing, I shifted my backpack and ran across the lawn to my car and pasted it, deciding I would enjoy a nice walk across where I lived. As I made my way to the walk-way to campus, I passed several people. A few waved as they tossed their back packs into their cars while others whizzed by me on a bicycle or roller blades.

Upon reaching the walkway, I noticed Darren already half way down it on his skateboard. It was easy to tell it was him from his long blue hair. Masaya was the only one with short hair it seemed. Mine was long enough to pull into a six inch ponytail, and Mark's went clear to his waist, although he kept it neatly trimmed and in a low ponytail. My ponytail was threaded through the back of my baseball cap, and swung with each step I took, tickling my neck a little bit.

Kish was already at our table when I got to class, a full five minutes early, despite me getting a slow start when I first woke up. He grinned at me as I sat down. "Hi," he greeted, looking me over. "You look nice today."

I smiled and blushed. "Thank you." I was wearing a tight fitting long sleeved white shirt with pink sleeves and an air brushed flower on the front of it. My jeans were dark and had a sunflower on the right leg, twirling up to my pocket, where it bloomed out. "You're pretty cute yourself."

Kish gave me a goofy smile. He was wearing a black shirt that had a crimson leaf on it with the word 'NERV' next to it. His jeans were low cut and tight, showing off well developed legs. "I thank you."

I flopped my backpack on the floor and rooted out my text book and notebook. "First real day of classes for me." I spoke aloud, a little nervous all of a sudden. "I wonder if they'll be hard."

"Shouldn't be." Kish leaned back in his chair, making it tilt back and balance on the back two legs. "We'll probably start out with the easy stuff at first then work into things you didn't learn in high school."

"What about you? You're from Australia, right? What if things you learn here are different than there? You'll have a real hard time keeping up won't you?"

Kish almost fell backwards, but managed to keep his balance by grabbing the table in front of him and pulling himself down. "Oh, that was close. I don't think I'll have any troubles."

I was about to ask more, but the professor chose that time to walk in the door. Looking around a bit, he grinned at all of the people who were early for his class and then hopped onto his desk. "Good morning everyone!" He greeted us, leaning forward. "So, third day of college and second in my class. I hope you're all learning how things work. Any of you have Tuesday and Thursday classes?"

A few people nodded, and I noticed that Kish next to me also did. I liked the Way College worked. Instead of Monday through Saturday eight to three, college was sectioned off into hour blocks. There was a class from seven AM to nine PM and you could chose any hour you wanted as long as your class was offered at that time. Tuesday and Thursday classes were an hour and forty five minutes, since they only met twice a week. Luckily I had all mine from eight till noon so I had all afternoon off and the other two days off completely. Adding in the weekends, I was only in school for twelve hours a week total. Although I don't know how much homework and studying I'll be putting in just yet, it seemed to be a whole lot better than high school was.

My class was fairly interesting. Although I didn't really get into it as much as Kish seemed to, I still had a page and a half of notes already from things the teacher just said 'be sure to know' about. Toward the end of the lecture, I realized that if took this many notes a day, especially with my small hand writing, and we met three times a week and tested every other week, I would have to study a lot to learn everything.

I sighed as we were dismissed and closed my notebook. "Wow. Almost two pages of notes, and an entire chapter assigned to read."

"Sounds like a blast," Kish replied, standing as well and zipping up his backpack. "Hey, do you know where the Rumiko building is? I got my schedule changed and I have no clue where I'm supposed to go."

"Rumiko? Yeah, I'm heading there now. I have psychology there."

"With Takahashi?"

"Yeah! Hey, you transferred into my class?" I took his schedule when he offered and I nodded. "Yeah, we're together. Come on, it's a long walk." I shouldered my backpack and smiled. "At least I won't be bored on the way there anymore."

Kish laughed as we started to walk together. "I feel honored to relieve your boredom, really."

Giggling, I shook my head. "You're a funny guy."

"I try." He stopped walking all of a sudden and knelt down. "Hey, Ichigo, look. A praying mantis."

"Oh?" I looked down at him. "Ew, a bug!"

"These things are neat! It's like they know kung fu or something!" He touched it and smirked to himself. It looked a little weird for a moment, seeing that look on his face, but it passed by quickly and he stood up again. "I'm sorry; you said it was a long walk, right?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Come on or we'll be late."

My psychology class was large. At least three hundred people were in it. I was amazed the first day there, as I was expecting a normal classroom like my History class. To my surprise, I found a large lecture hall with stadium style seating. When the room was full, I felt cramped and a little uncomfortable. At least now I would have someone familiar sitting next to me.

"The teacher doesn't take roll," I told Kish as we sat somewhere in the middle where two seats were open. To tell the truth I don't remember where I sat last time, as the rows of seats were so many. "So I doubt it'll matter where we sit as long as we're here."

"Sounds tasty." He pulled a small arm rest up from the right side of the set and flipped it over to make a small desk in front of him. "Hey, neat. I was wondering what we were going to bear down on when writing."

"Yeah, I thought so too." I did the same thing and put my pink notebook on it and flipped it open to a clean page. "I bet you can get a syllabus from the professor after class is over. If not, you can borrow mine when you need it."

"Thanks," He looked it over and nodded. "Wow. Only five test the entire year."

"Yeah. And you have to volunteer for things too. You need five points or something like that. So you have to volunteer for five different things. Here's the list." I pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to him.

"These look like experiments and stuff."

"They are. Different things and situation. This is psychology you know."

He hummed before handing it back. "I see."

* * *

After class was over, Kish waved goodbye to me and promised to come see me at the bar. After adjusting his sunglasses, he ran off to his next class, leaving me alone to walk all the way back from where I came from my history class to get to my Math class which was the next building over. Sighing, I started to walk.

My trip was interrupted a few steps later, however, when I bumped into so someone. "Oh, I'm sorry!" The girl bowed to me. "I wasn't looking..."

"Its okay, my fault. Kind of spaced out." I helped the girl pick up the notebooks she dropped.

"Thank you." She smiled at me. "I have such a long walk to my math class that I try to hurry."

"Algebra I?"

"Why yes!"

"I'm going there too." I smiled. "My name is Momomiya Ichigo."

"Midorikawa Lettuce. Nice to meet you." She bowed again.

I smiled and we started to walk together. "Are you a freshman?"

"Yes, you?"

"Yeah." I giggled. "I'm still trying to get used to everything. It's so much different than high school!"

"I know, I'm so nervous. I hope I do well here..."

"I'm sure you will."

Lettuce seemed to be a nice girl, although she was really, really polite. I felt at ease with her, though, as if she would somehow be a long lasting friend to me even if we just met. We sat together in class, and talked while waiting on the professor to show. I learned that she lived in the dorms and was granted several scholarships for college due to her good grades in school. I had only been granted one since I was only average in the school category. Bringing this up, I told her about my job and invited her to come by tonight, which she said she would.

After Math, we said our goodbyes and went separate ways. I only had Japanese Literature left, which was close to the building I was currently in. Shifting my backpack, I walked over to the building and walked into it, looking around. My class was on the third floor, but the elevators were so packed looking, I went to the stairs as most other students were doing. Reaching the top, I paused as Masaya walked next to me. Turning around, I was pleased to see that he noticed me as well.

He smiled at me and nodded. Happy, I smiled at him. "Hey, Momomiya-san," he greeted me as students walked around us. "Having a good day so far?"

"Yeah! I've met a lot of people."

"That's good. We still on for this afternoon?"

"Of course."

He winked. "Then I'll call you later. My next class is on the other side of campus."

"Oh that sucks. You better hurry then."

"Right." He turned and waved over his shoulder, running a little bit to make up for lost time.

I smiled lightly and turned to walk into my classroom.

* * *

After my last class was over, I felt like doing nothing but getting a nice lunch and taking a small nap before Masaya called me to meet up. As I was walking to the union, however, a weird feeling made me stop and change directions. Running past students, I noticed that my legs were taking me to the park on the west side of campus. I've never been there before, but I could feel something pulling me in that direction.

Finally stopping, I looked around and panted lightly. "Well well, you came." A voice spoke up. Turning, I tried to find the speaker but didn't see anything until he spoke again. "Did you miss me?" Looking up in the air, I saw Kish fly down to me quickly. His lips claimed mine, shocking me. After a moment I jerked back and tried to kick him, but he was already back in the air. "Yummy."

"You jerk, what was that for!?"

"Fun." He laughed and I growled at him. His falcon was above his shoulder like normal and his armor shifted as he readied himself. His voice was a little familiar, but I couldn't place it because it had a sort of electronic tone to it. "Oh, I forgot to mention." He lowered himself down so he was standing on the ground a few feet away from me. "I brought a friend this time."

Kish moved his hand and pointed behind me. I turned lightly to look and gasped as a six foot tall praying mantis appeared. "What the..."

"And that's not all!" Kish declared happily. "I also found this one." At that time, I turned back to Kish, who had Lettuce in a headlock. "She was by the pond so I decided to have a little fun."

"Let her go!"

"Momomiya-san..."

"Let her go, Kisshu!" I shouted at him. "She has nothing to do with this!"

"Actually, she does." He replied easily. "According to our research, she is one of you. I don't want to have another opponent to deal with, so she'll die here and now." He pulled a dagger from his boot. "Say goodbye!"

Lettuce's eyes were wide, and her voice screamed out for help as Kish reared back to stab her with it. I ran to them quickly and leapt at Lettuce, tackling her hard and rolling as the knife was swing, cutting my shirt.

"That was just low," I glared at Kish as I stood up and turned. I felt my shirt fall from my body, having been cut clean in half on the back. My hair turned from red to pink and I my vision got better as my pupils narrowed and started to look more like cat's eyes. I felt my body get stronger as the genes inside of me started to take over. Black fur covered my arms and hands, going past my shoulders and giving me what looked like a one piece bikini made out of black fur. I took off my cap and let my tail unfurl from my waist. "You picked the wrong cat to mess with, Kisshu."

"Hmmmmmmm."

The giant praying Mantis chose that time to attack me. I ducked under its scythe like arm and leapt forward, punching it in the chest. Following it up with a kick, I managed to knock it over and then dodge to the side as Kish flew down at me. He turned in the air and flew back at me, slashing with his dagger. I moved to the side again and grabbed his arm, twisting it and throwing him down into the ground.

I had to jump into the air as I was attacked again from behind. Flipping over, I slashed hard, cutting down the hard shell of the mantis' side. Kish kicked my side then, sending me flying. I hit the ground and bounced hard, but quickly got back up. Both of my enemies were running toward me and Kish made it first, attacking again. Blocking his thrust, I grabbed his wrist and elbowed him hard in the chest. It only made my elbow throb in pain when I connected, as his armor didn't give at all. Not letting this stop me, I twisted in his grasp and kicked off of him.

Landing, I ran to the mantis and slid under it. Getting back up, I hit it hard in the back and gashed it with both of my hands, which I was coming to realize that my fingernails were now sharp claws that extended from the tips.

My hands had pink fur on my palms and black on the other side. I was learning how to call forth my claws at will and finding out that my agility was so great I could literally dodge something at the last second without worrying about getting hit.

The battle continued to rage for another few minutes before I was once again double teamed. Kish grabbed my tail and yanked on it hard, making me almost pass out in pain. He then took my arm and threw me over his head hard. I flew into the air until Kish appeared next to me and grabbed my ankle. Turning, he threw me back down to earth at an angle.

I hit the surface of the pond hard and skidded across the water until the momentum died down and I finally sank down into it. Quickly I found out that being covered in fur wasn't a good thing underwater, and I strained hard to try and break the surface with the added weight. After a moment I felt a hand grab mine and I was pulled easily to the surface. Someone held me as I coughed up water and tried to regain my thoughts.

I gasped audibly as I realized that the person who saved me was actually _standing_ on the water. My eyes trailed from the feet and up the body until I saw Lettuce's face. She was glaring at Kish and the mantis. "I don't like it when people hurt my friends," She shouted out, voice scared but determined.

I noticed Ryou on the side of the pond then, and caught what he threw at me. It seemed to be a type of glove. Putting it over my right hand, I felt a strange new power inside of me. "This end snow!" I told Kish, pointing.

Lettuce seemed to read my mind and darted forward over the water, leaving a large wake behind us. "Strawberry Bell Bell!" I named my new attack as I reared back a punch. A crimson heart shaped bell rang on my wrist from the motion. "Strawberry check!" I punched, and a blast of energy shot forward.

Kish's body twitched in shock before hitting the ground to avoid the blast. The mantis behind him wasn't as fortunate, however, and took the hit hard. The bug seemed to shatter into pieces, leaving nothing but a small jelly fish looking thing and a bug that fell to the ground and scurried off.

Stepping onto land, me and Lettuce glared at Kish hard s he got to his feet. "Amazing," He whispered. "Simply amazing..." He looked at us and I tried to get a read on him again. His face was mostly covered by his helmet which left me at a blank with him. "I'll let you go this time, but don't think it's over, Mew Mews. It's not over by a long shot." With that, the alien teleported away, taking his falcon with him.

"R-2000! Retrieve!" I noticed a small plushie looking thing literally eat the jellyfish-type alien. It then flew back over to Ryou, who was walking over to us. "Well done girls." He congratulated us. "Ichigo, you need to work on your martial arts some. That was a little sloppy. As for you," he turned to Lettuce. "I bet you're really scared, aren't you?"

Lettuce sniffed and looked at me for some encouragement. I smiled at her in return. "Shirogane is an arrogant jerk, but a nice guy."

"Hey!"

"He'll tell you everything you need to know." I finished up. "Right now, I have to get home or something and get a new shirt..." I looked down and rubbed a hand across my stomach that was still covered in fur. At least it covered everything. I'd hate to be topless in front of Ryou. "Shirogane, I need some cloths." I eyed his jacket. "Let me borrow that until we get to the restaurant?"

"Yeah, sure." He took it off and wrapped it over my shoulders. "Lets get you changed before you catch a cold." His eyes went to Lettuce. "And Keiichiro will make you a nice lunch as we explain everything. Don't worry, it'll all be okay."

I smiled as we walked. Ryou always seemed to surprise me. As soon as I thought I new how he was, he would go and act so totally not like himself it was scary. But at least now I was covered. I picked up my cap as we walked and put it on. My tail was a little more trouble, but I managed to get it wrapped around my waist and tuck it in over itself. I would have to learn how to control it soon, so I could do that without my hands.

As we walked, my body itched lightly, letting me know the new fur was going away. With a quick look at my hand, I smiled as the pink and black faded away. I was _really_ scared I was going to have to shave it all off. My legs were bad enough, if I had a full body razor burn, I would just have to kill Ryou.

* * *

My phone rang, waking me up from my sleep. A little confused at first from the sudden awakening, I reached up on Ryou's headboard and grabbed my phone. "H-hello?"

"Momomiya-san?"

I smiled. "Aoyama-kun! What's up?" I sat up and pulled the covers to my chin to cover myself. Keiichiro had taken my wet cloths earlier to dry them for me, and told me that he would give me some clean cloths that I had left over here before to wear home. Looking over to the computer chair, I saw them waiting for me. It was a little embarrassing, but I didn't mind Keiichiro doing my laundry for me. He was too sweet to think anything weird.

"Nothing too much. I got Mark's car now, want to go to the museum?"

I climbed out of bed and started getting dressed while talking. "Yeah, that would be wonderful. Where are you?"

"Campus. I just dropped the guys off. They are going to the Hiroyuki building. Ever been?"

"Nuh-uh." I shook my head even though he couldn't see me.

"I'll take you some time. It's huge, has twelve tennis courts in it, a rock wall, an Olympic sized indoor swimming pool, an arcade, and a lot more. Also have a section for physical classes such as karate and two full sized gyms to work out in."

"Sounds like a blast." I struggled with my shirt and finally got it on without losing my cell phone in the process. "I'm at the restaurant right now; can you pick me up here?"

"I just passed it." He laughed. "I'm turning around. Give me three minutes."

"Sure!" We both laughed and I hung up, quickly pulling on my jeans. Hopping a bit, I finally got them right and noticed that Keiichiro had them tailored to be low cut in the back so my tail wouldn't be in the way. Smiling, I wrapped it around my waist and stole a cap off of Ryou's desk since I couldn't find mine.

A knock came on the door and I called out for whoever it was to come in. Ryou opened it and stepped inside, cutting on the lights. "You're up," He noticed with a grin. "And already dressed, that's a plus."

"Thanks for letting me nap." I winked at him and looked around. "You have a comb I can borrow?"

Ryou walked over to the desk and tossed me a brush. "Here. Keiichiro told me you were taking tonight off."

"I'll work Thursday to make up for it." I told him, brushing my hair quickly. "I got tickets for the museum. I want to learn about all of these animals."

"That would be good." He walked over to his desk and pulled open a drawer. I watched him as I pulled a spare hair band from my key ring to pull my hair into a ponytail. To my surprise, Ryou took out a pack of cigarettes and lit one.

"You smoke?" I asked, nodding to them.

"Nah, I just keep them in my drawer and light them occasionally to see how long it takes till they burn."

"Smart ass." I returned the brush to where Ryou got it. "It's a bad habit."

"Keiichiro tells me everyday. Don't tell me to quit, it's not easy."

"I know." I pulled on my shoes and looked myself over in his mirror. "I smoked for half a year almost."

"Quit?"

"Parents found out. Couldn't get a hold of anymore." I winked at him and posed. "Do I look good?"

He shrugged. "Same as always."

I growled and ran to the door when I heard a car door close. "That'll work. Bye!" I ran out and down the stairs. When I reached the restaurant, I noticed Lettuce. She was wearing an outfit that seemed to match the one I wore, but the red was replaced by a green to match her hair. Also instead of a flower on her jeans, she had a water design at the bottom and a dolphin jumping from it. "Lettuce, you look really cute!"

"Th-thank you," She blushed and looked down. "I'm a little nervous. I've never been a waitress before."

"Don't worry, it's easy! I'll be here with you tomorrow. Just smile and be polite." I waved at her happily as Masaya walked in. "We'll talk later okay?"

"Okay. Have fun, Ichigo-san!"

"Ready?" Masaya asked, looking down at me and smiling.

"Uhn!" I nodded happily and walked with him outside and into the evening light. "I keep forgetting the sun starts to set earlier now." I mused, looking for Mark's car. It was a bright yellow sports car, and it almost seemed to jump out at you when you went by it. I assumed it was a graduation gift considering how all three boys were jobless and survived off scholarships. The one that I had paid for my books and supplies, but that was just about it. Still, it was a few hundred dollars I didn't have to spend myself.

Masaya opened the door for me, making me grin. "Wow, a gentleman, huh?"

"But of course," He gave me a fake dramatic bow before closing the door of the car. When he got in himself he laughed. "I just want to score a few points so you won't take over the radio."

"Too bad." I started messing with it as soon as he started the car and found my favorite station. "Yay, E-jump is on!" I sang along a little bit. "You don't like them do you?"

"Eh, I like a few of their songs."

That made me giggle a little bit. It was obvious that he wouldn't like this kind of music. I pictured him more as a J-rock type of person.

The ride to the museum was filled with random talking about our day and what classes we were taking. I found out that Masaya had Earth Science, Chemistry, Japanese Literature II, and Calculus. He was going for an Earth Science major so he could become an animal right's leader and maybe even a leader of some sort of earth protection agency. I thought he was a little dorky, but what he was serious about what he wanted to be in life, and I haven't even chosen my major yet so I couldn't say anything

Walking into the museum was kind of neat in itself. I have been here a few times before and each time was different. Now at the door stood a cute looking golden cat statue with wings. Just past that was a long line that we had to wait in before going into the main section that branched off into many different areas. There was an option of headsets that said information about what you was looking at, but we skipped on that so we could talk to each other.

"Momomiya-san, look." Masaya pointed to a picture taken of some large cats in the jungle. "Iriomote Wildcats. Aren't they neat?"

"Iriomote..." It clicked. That was the animal who gave me its genes. Leaning forward, I smiled. "Aww... how cute. Aoyama-kun, do you know anything about them?"

"A little bit," He seemed impressed that I would ask. "They live in the jungle mainly. Not many left in the world."

"Aw." I pouted a little. I knew they were almost extinct, but actually _hearing_ made me a little sad. "Poor things. I wish I could keep one at my place so nothing would happen to it."

Masaya leaned next to me and looked over in my direction. "You're kind hearted, Momomiya-san."

"Oh?" I turned to look at him and realized just how close we were. Blushing, we both looked away a moment. Acting on a whim, I took his hand, and pulled lightly. "Let's look at that next, okay?" I used my free hand to point at a display about some type of birds."

"Okay." He smiled and allowed me to drag him off before I let go of his hand and leaned on the rail. "I wonder if they could fly. I've heard that some birds can't."

"These kind can," he answered simply with a grin. "See?" He pointed to a picture above the one I was looking at, which showed them in flight.

"Oh... Um... I knew that... I was... testing you... you passed." I nodded to myself. "Just making sure you was paying attention."

"Right." I could tell he was holding back a laugh, but I blushed anyway and looked away.

"Hey, Momomiya-san?"

"Yes?"

"Why do you always wear a hat?" He thumped the bill of my cap making me squeak and put both hand on it to adjust it back. "You have pretty hair."

I felt my cheeks color yet again. "I don't know. I just like them I guess..." I laughed nervously. "Oh look!" I pointed to a random thing next to him. "They look neat, let's go there!" He looked and I sighed in relief. I avoided that nicely.

As we walked around the museum we got separated several times, each time laughing as we met back up. It was a little strange, but a little scary at the same time. I never liked being in large buildings surrounded by people and yet by myself. When I couldn't find him for several minutes after being parted again, I started to panic a little bit.

When I felt a hand on my shoulder, I yelped lightly and spun around to see him standing there with a shocked look on his face. Relieved, I quickly hugged him. "Don't do that, I was scared."

After a second, I realized what I was doing and quickly shot away and turned so he wouldn't see me. To my surprise, I heard him chuckle and then felt his hand take mine and our fingers interlace together. "Come on, I found a really cool section over here." He began to lead me away and I followed with my gaze to the ground. A few older couples whispered something about 'cute young couples in love' but I ignored them.

The rest of the trip was relatively uneventful. At the exit there was a small gift shop, which we both enjoyed walking around in. To my surprise, Masaya bought me a cute little ribbon with a bell on it. When I gave him a pleased, yet confused look, he simply tied it to my neck as a make-shift chocker necklace. Giving the bell a small thump, he made it jungle and laughed. "This way you won't get lost anymore."

I smacked his arm playfully before laughing. It was a cute, playful little gift, but I liked it. It jingled when I walked, which made me giggle even more. Finally leaving the museum I noticed it was pitch black outside. "It's going to rain tonight," I mused, looking up and sniffing. "It was so clear this morning, too."

"Rain is good sometimes. You'll sleep well tonight at least."

"True." My stomach growled at me. "Ack..."

"Come to think of it, I'm starving." He looked down at me. "May I treat you to dinner?"

"...If you want..." I looked down shyly. Wow, a museum date _and_ a treat for dinner. I couldn't wait to tell my mom about this. She was sure I would be too shy to date at first.

"I know a great place..."

* * *

When Masaya said 'great', I was expecting some type of restaurant that he and his friends ate at a lot. Instead, I found myself in a really fancy Chinese restaurant that even had a person show us to our seats and bowed before leaving to get our drinks.

"I love Chinese food," I began, looking around in awe. There was a small chandelier above our table, casting a really elegant light pattern around. "But this has got to be way expensive."

"It's okay. I love this place." He grinned. "Besides, I want to."

I felt really bad after looking around and seeing several people all dressed up, and here I was with a baseball cap on. "Um, I know this looks _really_ bad, but I can't take my cap off..."

He paused a moment, then waved it off. "I don't mind. I don't really look that great myself." He motioned to his tee shirt and jeans. "Didn't have time to really get dressed properly for a date."

"Me either." I laughed lightly to myself.

* * *

All too soon I found myself at my front door, looking up at Masaya. "Thanks a lot for dinner, even though _I_ asked _you_ out."

"My pleasure. Thanks for allowing me to go to the museum with you. I'll bring by those books on the Wildcat like you wanted tomorrow sometime."

"I'd like that." I rolled on my heels lightly and looked up at him again. He looked back down and blushed lightly. I smiled weakly up at him, knowing full well I was too shy to make any kind of move. He seemed to take the hint and began to lean down to me. Closing my eyes, I tilted my head a little and felt his breath against my lips.

Then his cell phone rang.

We each jumped apart and I held my hand to my chest, scared out of my mind. I felt my tail fall behind me as well, moved from its wrap around my waist when I moved so quickly. Luckily it was too lazy to swing at the time so I managed to hide it well by keeping my legs together.

"What!?" Masaya almost yelled in his phone.

"Yo, Masaya!" I could hear Mark's voice. "Where you at man, it's past midnight! It's your first date man, slow down!"

"For your information, we just got to her apartment and I_ was_ saying goodnight when you called."

"Did you kiss her!?" Darren suddenly yelled out, making Masaya move the phone away from his ear.

"No!"

"Ha, you owe me five bucks, Darren!"

Annoyed, Masaya flipped his phone shut and scratched the back of his head. "Um, the guys say 'hi'. "He laughed nervously.

I smiled and couldn't help but laugh a little. "Tell them I said hi too." We looked at each other a moment. Suddenly feeling confident and not nervous at all thanks to the phone call, I quickly got on my tip toes and pecked his cheek. "Call me okay?"

He touched the spot where I kissed him a moment before nodding. "You got it." Waving, he turned and slid down the rail of the stairs. When I was sure he was out of site, I sighed contently and put my key in my door, walking in before anyone could see my tail. Out of habit, I walked to my balcony, where I watched Masaya walk to his car. He paused a moment at the door and looked up at me. At first I was a little embarrassed, but he waved at me, so I waved back.

When the tail lights faded around the corner, I walked back in and shut the door. Yawning, I walked to my bedroom and took off my shirt, tossing it into the hamper soon followed by my jeans and bra. I had lost my cap somewhere in the living room. Climbing into bed, I decided to leave my bell on. I pulled a pillow close to me and snuggled up next to it as a few drops of rain started to hit my building. My tail lay out behind me lazily as my mind started to drift away.

It was a good day today, and I could sleep in tomorrow. I yawned lightly and stretched, letting out a content meow.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I finally managed to work Lettuce in at least. Pudding should come in next chapter maybe. I'm debating hitting this up to an "R" rating because of all the things I have planned. I'll try and keep it PG-13 if I can since many readers are pre-teens or young teenagers.

Oh, and before you say anything, in Japan school goes Monday to Saturday with Sunday being the only day off. Also does anyone out there have episodes 40-52? I can't find them anywhere ;

Please review, and I'll see you next chapter!


	7. Nightfall

"Welcome!" I greeted the small group of students as they entered the restaurant. "May I show you to a table?" I winked at them flirtingly, getting grins. Over the span of two weeks I have learned that customers who liked you tipped bigger, so I was making an effort to do so. Plus it gave us repeat business, which was always good. Already the restaurant was a popular place to eat during the day and a great place to have fun at night. Lettuce wasn't really much help, but it was still enough to keep me from going crazy. All-in-all I was having a blast here.

**TMM: College Years VII**

**By: Satashi**

Time seemed to just fly by. One moment I was scared about finding my classes and the next I was already in the swing of things, starting my third week of college. Ryou has already found our third member, a girl by the name of Pudding, and was going to meet up with her later in the week. Lettuce was used to her job now, as was I. It seemed to be a steady schedule almost. Wake up, go to class, nap after lunch, and then work. My days off were random and few in-between since we didn't have many employees just yet.

My classes were going well, but I had three tests all on the same day this Friday. Not letting this get me down, I still found time to go out on dates with Masaya when I could. He has already gotten into the habit of visiting me during my study time so he could do so as well. Mark had blown his headphones so in order to practice for his music classes; he had to plug his guitar into an amp. Although he kept it as low as he could with his door closed, it still drove Masaya bats when he had to study. Not that I minded after all, I liked having company over. Also I was starting to love cooking as well and already invited the guys over at least twice a week for dinner.

Come to think of it, I had never even seen their apartment yet. Mine was a two bedroom and was almost a little too big for me. Since I never got a room mate I turned the spare bedroom into a study with the help of Ryou during one of his visits. With Masaya's apartment being for four people, I was sure it was huge. I recalled hearing them mention once that they paid for all four bedrooms between the three of them so they would have a music room. I decided that I would have to pay them a visit tomorrow since we all had a day off from classes and I didn't have to work.

"Smirnoff Ice, Cutie."

The words snapped me out of my thoughts and I smiled at the person asking and grabbed a bottle from under the counter, twirled it over my hand, and placed it in front of him, flipping the top off and sending it into the trashcan with one complicated maneuver. "Here you go. Enjoy." I waved at his amused face and went over to wait on someone else who had just sat down at the bar.

Lettuce was our waitress now it seemed. She was constantly going from table to table and to the kitchen, leaving me and Ryou to tend the bar. Although I wasn't nearly as good as he was, Ryou was slowly teaching me things. I learned how to spin glass bottles over the top of my hand, and also how to catch them being throw to me without looking. Although to learn this, we had broken at least a hundred empty bottles. He taught me after work with all the bottles we had in the glass garbage can.

After the last person left for the night, I took out a rag from under the bar and began to clean it. It wasn't very fun, but I got used to it after a while. Besides, it was fun to watch people get drunk and try to keep drinking, only to pour it all over themselves. Yawning, I shivered a little. Taking off my hair band, I rubbed my ears out of habit. Ryou had just locked the door and flipped the sign to 'Closed' so I knew it would be safe now. Also freeing my tail from its belt loop prison, I let it swing behind me as I hummed. Ryou started making me a daiquiri, a sort of tradition we established after a hard night's work.

When the cleaning was done, I hopped up onto the bar and took the offered drink, licking the whip cream off the top. Ryou stopped what he was doing to watch me. Noticing this, I met his eyes with mine and playfully licked the little fluff of cream off of my straw, making him visibly wince and mutter something about getting a smoke. Laughing, I watched him retreat while I enjoyed my drink.

"Good work today, Ichigo-san," Lettuce told me, bowing lightly as she walked by. "You have tomorrow off, right?"

"Right." I nodded. "You did great today, Lettuce. I can tell you're getting better."

"Really?"

"Of course!" I laughed, making her smile. "I'll see you later then."

"Okay." She waved again before walking out the door. Luckily whatever method Ryou used to put the DNA into her system, she didn't have any side effects like I did. But then again, I was a little worried about what her effects _could_ be. She was fused with a type of dolphin/whale type animal. Although I know that she could walk on top of water somehow. I wasn't really sure how that worked, but I was there when it happened so I knew it was true.

Ryou returned a moment later and hopped onto the countertop next to me before taking out a cigarette and lighting it. After inhaling, he grinned at me. "You did well today. Really getting the hang of it."

"Yeah, I only screwed up two orders today." I stuck my tongue out at him playfully before drinking some more of my daiquiri. "But I like it here. My mom freaked when I told her I was a bartender."

"I bet." Laughing, he shook his head. "I'm surprised your dad hasn't come in here looking for me or something."

"Sounds like something he would do." My tail was swinging behind me as the drink started to make me a little giggly. Normally it would just calm me down but after accepting a free drink from a customer, I was already feeling happy with myself. Fortunately Ryou taught me how to take a shot and chase it down with a beer earlier on in the week. The trick was to have an empty dark bottle and simply spit the drink out into it while pretending to drink it after the shot. It was clever, and no matter if the liquid was wasted or not, we still got paid for it.

That and I came to find out that I had a _real_ low tolerance for alcohol. Two shots and I was drunk, four or five and I'd pass out. Even a simple spiked drink would make me laugh at nothing for an hour or so. Ryou liked to pick on me about it, but I sort of found it funny myself, seeing as how I _worked_ at a bar and all.

Finishing my drink, I sat it down and hopped off the bar, fanning the smoke away from my face. "I thought Keiichiro told you not to smoke inside the building?"

"I won that argument." He grinned at me. "Why? Want one?" He offered the small box from his pocket and I almost took one.

"You suck." I thumped the box. "I'm heading home. Call me if you need me, all right?"

"Hey, I'll walk you." He got off the counter as well and grabbed his jacket. I slid mine on as well, zipping it half way. The good thing about my jacket was that since it used to be his, it was bigger than it normally would be and hid my tail easily when I had it around my waist. Also the hood on it allowed for quick, easy coverage of my ears that didn't include pressing them against my head for hours on end.

I was already accustomed to him walking me home, and I actually enjoyed it a little bit now. He seemed to be a different person during this walk; kind even. Not at all a wise-butt like he normally was. The nights were starting to get a little colder now and I realized that Halloween was coming up already. It wasn't any wonder that I say my breath in front of me as we walked. I shivered a little bit and then felt an arm being placed over my shoulders. I gasped lightly and looked up at Ryou, who was still looking ahead.

"You know, I've been thinking," He started, as if he wasn't making my heart pound for some reason that I couldn't place. "About a Halloween party at the bar. I don't know, have a band play or something. Have to be wearing a costume to come in. Dollar night or something?"

I started to feel a little easier about his arm being around me and even welcomed the new warmth it offered by being against his side. "That sounds nice. I'll see if I can't get us somebody to play. I know two music majors."

"That's good. We can go to the frat party this Friday and hand out flyers. It'll be packed with party people so they'll tell their friends. If it goes well we'll make a lot of money."

Suddenly it dawned on me. "Ryou, you said you own the restaurant, right? Bought it and had it fixed up and stocked and everything right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Aren't you just a college student? What are you, a junior? Senior?"

He laughed. "I got my degree when I was twelve."

I stopped walking. "What, _really_!?"

"Mmhmm."

"Oh _wow_. And how did you afford it all?"

"I'm super rich." He told me bluntly, grinning. So much for not being a smart ass.

I started walking again and he joined me when I reached his side. "If you're so rich why don't you pay my rent for me?"

"Because I sign your paycheck. You need a raise?"

"Wouldn't hurt."

"Fine, you got one." He laughed.

I shook my head and smiled. He was a weird one.

The wind suddenly picked up and I shivered, zipping my jacket up the rest of the way. After a moment, I looked over at Ryou and they back to the ground, stepping a little closer to him so our sides touched. He took the hint and put his arm back around me to warm me up a little.

When we reached the stairs to my apartment, I turned and smiled up at him. "Want to come up for a bit?"

"I'd like to but I have a meeting with some people tomorrow morning about an upcoming party they want me to host at their new hotel. Got to wake up early."

"I see. You shouldn't have walked me then, you need rest."

"I felt like it." He looked down at me a moment before leaning in and kissing my cheek. "See you Wednesday." With that, he waved and started to walk away.

Slowly I brought my hand up to my cheek and rubbed the spot where I was kissed with my fingertips. I then blushed as it registered in my mind on what just happened. But by now it was too late to say anything, as Ryou was already past speaking distance, and I didn't want to scream so late at night. Sighing, I told myself that I was too tired to worry with him or my feelings right now

Upon reaching my apartment door, I saw a small note attacked to the small clip on my frame. Unclasping it, I blinked and wondered who it was from as I unfolded it.

_Momomiya,_

_Hey, Stopped by earlier to study but you wasn't home and your cell was off so just making sure you was okay. Mark's driving me nuts so I had to get out for a bit. Call me when you get home?_

_-Masaya_

I sighed and let my head fall against the door. I had completely forgotten about promising to let him study over at my place tonight. No wonder he was worried. Inserting my key with one hand, I scrolled down my phone to try and find his number. I pressed the call button as I managed to get into my own apartment.

Masaya answered on the third ring. "Hello?" He was tired, I probably woke him up.

"Aoyama-kun. Sorry I wasn't here. I got your letter, I didn't wake you did I?"

"No," he lied. "I was up."

"I'm sorry."

"I told you to call. Just wanted to be sure you were okay."

"I forgot I had to work late. I'm going to stop by your place tomorrow okay? I'll make you lunch as an apology."

He yawned. "That would be great."

"Okay then. See you later."

"G'night Momomiya-san"

"Nighty-night."

I clicked off my phone and tossed it on my dresser. Stretching out, I yawned. Walking to my bathroom, I stripped down and cut on the hot water. Several minutes later I emerged back into my bedroom now clean. I dried my hair and body before sitting on my bed. For a moment I paused, looking at my bell that Masaya had given me. Smiling, I picked it up and tied it on my wrist in a make-shift bracelet. Now with this on, I got up to cut off my lights and stumbled over to my bed, which I slid into happily, pleased at the feel of my cool sheets against my hot skin from the shower. With a yawn and s stretch, I felt my tail settle down and my eyes closed, drifting off to sleep.

* * *

For some reason I slept in the next day. I had originally planned on going over to Masaya's apartment to cook breakfast for them, but now I guessed it would have to be lunch. I didn't figure they would mind me randomly stopping by since they did it over here all the time. I threw on a cute pair of khaki pants and a white shirt with Hello Kitty on the front of it. It was a tight fit, and showed off my stomach, which I would cover with a jacket so my tail would stay hidden. Topping this outfit off with a white hair band to keep my ears down, I grabbed my purse and headed out the door.

The walk over to their apartment was a little damp, as it was almost raining outside. The sky was dark and it was almost as if a light mist just hung in the air and made me wet just walking through it. Fortunately, the walk wasn't too terribly long, and I found myself at their building a few moments later. They too lived on the third floor as I recalled. They were in room 327, which was on the opposite side as mine. I knocked on the door and literally heard the guys yelp out in surprised. A moment later Mark opened the door and looked at me through the crack between the frames. "Um, hi Ichigo!" He shouted out, a little louder than necessary.

"Crap ,it's a girl," I heard Darren say from inside and then a small scuffle.

"Um, is everything okay in there?" I asked, a little worried.

"Oh we're just fine," Mark looked behind him. After nodding, he opened the door up. "Please, come in." He motioned with his hand.

"Yeah, we were just watching .....The TV......yeah. Nothing bad or anything."

I sighed. They were probably watching porn or something. That's when it hit me. "Good sweet merciful lord, what is that _smell_!?"

"Smell? What smell?" Darren looked around and sniffed.

"Don't tell me you've become so used to it you don't even smell it anymore? It smells like nine kinds of butt in here."

"Hey, that's mean." Masaya protested. "But now that you mention it, it is a little stuffy in here...Mark, you ever clean up that pancake batter you spilt on the carpet?"

"Dude that was a week ago. It's your dirty cloths that are doing it."

"Speak for yourself, Mark," Darren added in, leaning back on their couch, which had junk all over it. "You haven't done the dishes all week."

"I thought I had garbage duty?"

"That's me."

"Well you haven't done it yet!"

"It's only Tuesday man!"

"And it's over flowing!"

"Hey, Masaya, there's a half full pizza box under these cloths..."

"Did that just _move_!?"

"Move? Hell by now I bet it can communicate!"

"Okay, that's _it_." I stomped my foot. "This is just pathetic! How long has it been since you guys _cleaned_!?" When the guys just kind of went quiet and looked at each other, I almost had a fit. "Okay, out." I pointed to the door. "Get out and don't come back until tonight. I mean it, go!"

They all quickly scurried around, grabbing their keys and wallets before running out the door. When the last one had left, I sighed and looked around. I had really hoped to rest on my day off from work, but now it seemed like I had a full job in front of me. First thing I did was check their laundry room, which consisted of a washer, dryer and lots and lots of lint. I was surprised the place hadn't caught fire just yet from all of it.

When I picked up their laundry detergent, I growled. Of course they would buy the cheapest thing they could get a hold to. A large box of powder soap and no softener, let alone dryer sheets. I always wondered why someone like Masaya always had wrinkled cloths that were a little tough. At least now I knew why.

After rooting around for a little bit, I managed to find Masaya's room and raid his backpack for a notebook and pen. The list I made was fairly long, and I knew it would cost a good chunk of my paycheck, but it would be worth it. Masaya and his roommates have given me so much over the short span of time I've known them. Mark, in all his goofy style cheered me up when I was homesick. Darren was even teaching me a little guitar for fun. Masaya was... well, I already knew full well I was crushing on him pretty hard now. From what I could tell he was starting to fall for me a bit too.

And then there was Ryou, who also confused me greatly. But now wasn't the time to be thinking about him. I pocketed my list and drove to the store to pick up the things I needed.

* * *

Masaya laughed as he pulled up Mark's car to the drive through menu. "Okay, shh, shh!" He grinned and looked at the small speaker bow, getting a welcome and an offer to take his order. "Um, yeah, I'd like a –shhh- with a l-shhh-oke and –shhh-ies." He had to swat at Darren ,who was cracking up in the back seat. "-shhh- acon cheeshhhhhh and –shhh-eal please." Mark was biting the sleeve of his jacket, trying not to break out laughing at Masaya's fake static order.

"So that's a number three, a number seven with no ketchup, three orders of fries, and a double bacon cheeseburger meal with two cokes and a sprite? Would you like anything else?"

The car went silent a moment before Masaya spoke up again, dazed and confused. "Um...no man, that's all... Thanks..."

* * *

Walking back into the apartment, the first thing I did was open all the windows to get some clean air inside. It wasn't hard figuring out which room belonged to whom. Even though the apartment was probably literally twice the size of mine, if not more, I could still easily clean it in a day. Masaya's room was first on my list, simply because I liked him best. That and I was really a little afraid to start out anywhere else.

His room wasn't really bad off compared to the rest of the house. His main problem was cloths strewn all over the floor and what seemed to be like a habit of not putting his books back in place after reading them. His desk was cluttered with several pictures of animals and recycling pamphlets and things of the sort for college.

Rounding up his cloths, I went ahead and started a load of laundry before tackling the actual cleaning and dusting that I don't think he's even done once since he moved in.

* * *

"Go go go go!" Darren shouted out as Mark rode the bicycle down the isle of the local Toys R' Us. When he reached the small ramp that Masaya had set up, he jumped it and got at least three inches of air off of it. "Score!"

"Security to Isle five. It's _them _again."

"Oh crap, let's book it guys!" The three of them all began to run down the isles

* * *

After a quick lunch I tackled the living room. It was completely covered in random things I don't think any of them new was there. Amazingly I got it clean only after the third load of laundry I did. Taking some pride in this, I started on the kitchen. Their dishes were piled up in the sink and after moving a few of them around I discovered just what exactly the smell plaguing their apartment was. Apparently they didn't know what a garbage disposal was and just left all their food on the plates after eating.

The dishwasher was now loaded with new cleaning detergent and a spot-free addition I bought for them as well. While they were going I started on the counter top, spraying it down with some bleach cleaner.

* * *

Masaya leaned out of the car window as Mark sped down the city. "These things are water soluble, right?"

"Duh. They'll fade away when it rains. No harm to the environment at all! Come on, Masaya, they wash out of cloths with only water, what do you think?"

"Just making sure." Masaya took the paintball gun handed to him from Darren and took aim. "Sign!" He let loose and plastered it several times as the passed.

"My turn!" Darren grabbed it back and leaned out, aiming. "Oh man, I know that person!" He aimed and shot a few times, scaring the guy walking along the road out of his mind.

Suddenly a siren was heard and blue and red lights came up behind them. "Oh crap...Hold on, I'll lose them!"

* * *

Masaya sighed heavily as he entered his apartment. "I can't believe we got away with that. I mean...Hey, guys; I think we went into the wrong house."

"My key fit it, you idiot, did you forget where we lived or...Hey, I think you're right." Darren looked over his shoulder. "Mark, what apartment is this?"

"It's ours all right." He pushed the other two boys in and stopped himself. "Holy hell, what happened to this place?"

"Hey, did you know out carpet was blue? I thought it was brown?"

"Probably because we never vacuumed."

"Hey check it out!" Masaya pointed to the clean kitchen. "She cleaned everything, even did the dishes and wiped down the counters!"

"And it smells really nice in here too," Mark sniffed around and went to his room. "Aw snap man, she did our laundry and our rooms as well!"

"You're kidding?" Darren ran over to his room and whistled. "Even made my bed and.....dang man, she washed my sheets too."

"She go home?"

"Nope, she's in here." The three guys all walked into Masaya's room where I was crashed out on his bed, dozing lightly. "Hey Momomiya-san, wake up." He shook me lightly, getting me to sit up.

"Wha...?" I yawned and arched my back in a stretch. "Aoyama-kun..." Rubbing my eyes I looked around. "You're all back. I thought I told you to stay out until night?"

"It _is_ night time." He told me with a grin. "I can't believe you cleaned our entire place."

"I can't believe you let it get so dirty. Honestly, you could have done it in three hours if you all worked together. Am I going to have to do everything for you?"

"Would you?"

Mark elbowed Masaya's ribs. "Man you need to marry this girl. She even used fabric softener. Feel your sheets?"

"All right, all right, the girl's sleepy. Let's let her rest."

"Speaking of rest, I need to hit the sack. Exciting day and I have a test tomorrow." Darren waved to us and patted me on the head. "Thanks for cleaning up. I owe you one.....well hell, I owe you two." He laughed and walked out of the room. I adjusted my hair band to make sure it was still on properly and was pleased to find it still in place.

"On that note, I'm crashing. I think I lost a year off my life tonight. Dang that was scary..." He too walked out of the room, waving over his shoulder. "Thanks a lot Ichigo. I'll buy you lunch sometime!"

Now alone with Masaya, I smiled at him shyly. "I like cleaning," I told him before he could say anything. "I just put your stuff where it looked like it went, so sorry if you can't find something."

"I'll live. Definitely." He looked down and picked up my hand. "You're wearing it." He tapped my bell, making me smile.

"Of course."

A moment went by where our fingers played with each other's. Blushing, I smiled up at him, getting a grin. For some reason my body told me it was time to yawn, making me take my hand from his to cover my mouth. "Ah...I'm sleepy."

"Better get some sleep. Come on, I'll walk you."

"No, it's okay." I stood up. "You must have had an exciting day, go ahead and get some rest like everyone else."

He smiled down at me and helped me off of his bed. "Then allow me to accompany you to the door then."

"That would be nice."

Holding his hand, I walked with him to the door, where we paused a moment after opening it. "Thanks again for cleaning up."

"I wanted to. You boys needed it. Remind me to teach you how to do laundry later."

He laughed, shaking his head. "If we do our own laundry, we'll never go home to our parents again."

I shared a laugh with him, then paused again as a small awkward moment came. After a few moments, he leaned down to kiss my cheek. At first I was going to let him, but a sudden flash of Ryou doing the same thing made me change my mind. I turned lightly and found his lips pressed against mine. He seemed surprised, and I was too. I was planning on pecking his cheek instead.

Not that I minded this.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and purred lightly as his went around my waist. We stayed like this for a long while before I suddenly remembered that I needed to breathe in every now and then to stay alive. I pulled back from him slowly and licked my lips. He had this cute lopsided grin on his face that was just adorable. I couldn't help but giggle to myself seeing it.

"What, no tongue?" We both instantly split apart, looking over at Darren, who had a glass of milk in one hand and a few Oreos in the other. "Some kiss."

"I never get any privacy..."

"Hey, you jerk!" Mark suddenly called from the kitchen. "You got the last of the Oreos!"

I shook my head. My first kiss with Masaya wasn't really as romantic as I imagined it would be. I guess I could live with that, though. "Call me." I pecked his cheek and ran out of the house, happy. I heard him call out a goodnight, which I returned. I had a nice day today at least. I got a lot done, finally repaid their kindness, and even got a kiss for all my troubles.

Closing my door, I sighed happily and stripped as I made my way to the bathroom for a shower and then crawled into bed after drying myself off. I made sure to set my alarm to wake me up in time for my classes and curled up against my pillow. After a moment, I giggled to myself and snuggled it closer to me.

* * *

I chewed on the end of my pencil as I waited for my class to start. Today was the last day before my first test in college, so I was a little nervous.

A sudden light breeze in my ear made me shiver lightly and turn to see Kish sitting down with a grin on his face. "Hey sexy."

"Hey Kish." He had taken a liking to me, and I could tell easily. I didn't mind it, though; I kind of liked him as well. Although at the current moment, my love life was a little full. I was crushing on Masaya, but I also liked Ryou in a weird sort of annoying way. Not to mention Kish, who was open about his feelings. I felt a little weird with all three of them, but as long as I didn't make a commitment on one of them, I didn't see the trouble of having three close male friends. It wasn't like I was cheating on any of them.

"Good morning class!" The professor greeted, walking in. "Sorry I'm late, I got lost on the way to my coffee machine from my bed and woke up ten minutes later only to realize I never moved in the first place." The class laughed at his joke. I liked this teacher, he always made learning interesting. "As you know, your first test will be tomorrow. It will cover everything we learned thus far. Yes, that's all three weeks worth. Now, to help you out, I will review with you today and answer any questions you may have. But first I have an assignment I want to go ahead and give out."

"I'm sure some of you are wondering why this class is so small with desk for two people, huh? Well, actually, this room is for Japanese majors who have a beta reading partner, so they work in pairs. Since I got stuck with this room, I figure I might as well make use of it. The person you are sitting with and you are going to do a report together. I have topics all printed out on the last page of your syllabus I gave at the start of the semester. If you're an idiot and lost this, I have extra copies up here for you. Anyway, it will be twenty pages long, single spaced, font size ten."

I gasped audibly. That would take _hours_ a day to complete, even with a partner.

"It will be due in thee weeks, first of November. Anyway, more on that after the test. I just wanted to let you know in advance what I had planned."

Kish looked over at me and I smiled. At least my partner was a history major. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. "Want to get together at my place or yours?"

I thought about it. I _think_ Kish lived in a dorm. "My place. I have a study room."

"Sounds Tasty."

It looked like I would be seeing a lot more of him lately.

* * *

A/N: A boring chapter I think. I planned introducing Pudding, but I think next chapter will work better with that because I can add in Pudding, the party, and another battle all in one action packed chapter. Anyway, please review; I love hearing from you. 


	8. Midnight

Yawning, I walked into the door to the restaurant and looked around. Ryou, strangely, wasn't at the bar like usual so I went up the stairs in the back to his apartment. I looked around a little before making my way to his bedroom. "Shirogane? You in here?" I peeked in and was surprised to find a girl in there as well, who immediately ran over to me.

"Is she the cat?" She asked suddenly, pulling off my cap. "Oh wow, she really _does_ have ears!"

**TMM: College Years VIII**

**By: Satashi**

Quickly grabbing my cap back, I shoved it back onto my head. "Who are you?"

"Pudding."

"She's our third member." Ryou told me as he sat at his computer desk backwards in his chair. "Seventeen, in High School. She has the DNA match of a Golden Lion."

"Oh wow, a lion?" I looked at Pudding. She seemed like an energetic girl at least. She had a long high ponytail that trailed down past her waist and was wearing a yellow shirt and khaki pants. She also didn't look Japanese.

"It's a monkey."

I laughed.

"Can I see your tail?"

"Sure." If she was one of us, I didn't mind showing it off. Actually I had learned to control it quite well over the time that I've had it. With very little effort I made my tail unwrap from my waist and lay down on her hand.

"It's pretty." She stroked it, making me knees weak. It was still sensitive, and I had to make her stop stroking it before I jumped on her. I don't think a good first impression would be to snuggle and purr against another girl.

"Shirogane already tell you about everything?"

"Yeah. It seems so weird, though." She walked back over to the bed and sat down on it. It looked like I wouldn't get a nap this afternoon after all. "I didn't quite believe him until I saw you."

"If I haven't battled a few times myself, I still wouldn't believe it." I sat down next to her and rubbed one of my cat ears since I could leave my cap off for a while. "I keep them hidden so long; I forget they are there sometimes." I glared at Ryou. "Although I do have headaches from keeping my ears pressed against my head for so long."

Ryou shrugged. "Nothing can be done about it."

"Do I get ears too? Or a tail? That would be so cool!"

"Cool!?" I was shocked. "They are nothing but trouble. Believe me, you don't want them. Speaking of which, Shirogane, how come only I have these side effects?" I pointed to my ears. "And don't even get me started about my fur. I have to shave my legs at least every other day. I used to be smooth after three days now I'm prickly after just two."

"A direct injection was too powerful," he told me lightly. "Even after all the precautions we took, something still went wrong. The female DNA acted differently than I had originally thought. What all effects do you have?"

"My tongue is a little rough, I meow, I have cat ears and tail, not to mention I catch myself licking my wrist to try and clean my self. Also-" I looked over at Pudding, who was laughing. "Oh hush you, you don't even have DNA yet...do you?"

"I wanted her to meet you before I did it." Ryou held up a new type of gun-like device. "This will change you," He looked over at Pudding. "I already explained everything to you. This is no game. This is no joke. If you agree to this, you will be put through hard times, tough battles, and the fate of the whole world will be upon you and four others. Can you do this?"

Pudding nodded. "Yes." She spared me a glance and smiled. "If someone as nice as her can do it, I want to give my best too! I have a family I need to protect. I can't sit by and watch them or anyone else get hurt."

"Then I welcome you..." Ryou stood up and pointed the gun at her. "Mew Pudding!" He pulled the trigger and a beam shot into her heart, making her eyes go wide. The process only lasted a few seconds and when it was done, Pudding sagged a little.

"I feel weird." She said woozy but happily.

"Well then, Lettuce should be here soon. Come on Pudding, I'll show you around. Ichigo needs some rest, her cat genes make her sleepy around this time of day."

Oh score, I get to nap after all. "Welcome to the group." I bowed lightly. "Please ask me if you ever need anything at all."

"Will do." She gave me a thumb up before they left the room.

Now alone, I stretched out. I didn't have as long as normal to nap because of the little meeting we just had and a quick run in with Darren on the way here, but I still could manage in almost an hour. At least that's what I _wanted_ to do. The moment I kicked my backpack out of my way I realized that I didn't have time for a nap if I wanted to pass my first few test. With a small sigh I picked up my bag and sat it on the bed, taking out my notes.

* * *

As if being tired wasn't bad enough, someone must have decided that the Mew Bar and Grill would be a great place for a large get-together. At least four tables were moved together to make room for the large mob of people and I was sentenced to dealing with them. Lettuce was overworked as usual, being our waitress, but at least Keiichiro was given some slack since Pudding seemed to be an excellent cook. Ryou was handling the bar almost by himself since I made it a point to be sure everyone in the group was happy so they would come back again.

The bad thing was, the group consisted of many single male college students who were all drinking beer. This, of course, led to cat calls, flirts, and several people looking at my butt when I leaned over to set more drinks on the table. If I didn't get a huge tip for all of this, I swear to all that is good and holy I would follow them home and set their house on fire.

"Another beer, Cutie!"

I smiled at the man and nodded. "Coming right up!" Being called 'Cutie' was common since I started working here so I really didn't mind it anymore. Of course, their were those certain type of people that made me want to cringe when they said it. He was one of those types. Upon entering the kitchen I let loose and had a full body shiver. "Those guys are creeping me out, Keiichiro."

"Want me to take care of them for you?" Pudding asked me as she cut up some carrots. "One good scare and they'll leave you alone."

"And also not come back," I reminded her. "We need to have a good reputation or people won't come and eat here."

"You're the world's best employee, Ichigo-san." Keiichiro told me with a smile. "I'm glad we have such a good person who cares about our business."

"With pay like this, I'll be more than happy to stay here." I winked at him and grabbed another pitcher of beer. "Got to get this out to the perverts out there and then help Ryou a little bit."

It was times like this I was glad my tail was clipped around my waist. Although I could now easily wrap and unwrap it at will, when I was emotionally aroused it would always flare out behind me on its own and twitch. The point was, my chest and butt were getting way too much eye attention from the group and I was tempted to pour this new pitcher all over them.

"You look upset," Ryou told me as I walked behind the bar to help him out.

"People seem like girls are nothing but breast and an ass." I told him, bending over to get some ice out to make some girl a mixed drink.

"You have a very nice butt," Ryou mused, looking over at me. Instantly I blushed and looked down. Somehow hearing it from him wasn't bad like the other people. "Just be sure to not let them get to you. Its obvious people will look at you, that's why your work outfit is designed like that, it's to attract attention. If they get too rowdy, I'll go speak with them. Just remember that it's a compliment in a round-about way. They think you look hot so they stare. And you know what, Ichigo?"

"What?"

"You _are_ hot." He patted my head as he walked by and I almost dropped the drink I was making.

'_Stupid Jerk_' I growled as I finished the drink order. '_Making me all shy like that..._' I looked back over at him as I served. He was kneeling down to get some more ice. A sudden though flashed through my head then and I walked over to him, kneeling down as well. "Here, let me help." I made sure to rub my body against his as I reached for some ice. His eyes went wide and I could tell he was startled. "There you go." I whispered into his ear as I placed the handful of ice into the cup he had and pulled back, making sure to trail my cold finger over his arm.

I blew lightly into his ear and started to make my way back over to my table to see if they needed anything. A moment later I heard a loud thud as Ryou hit his head under the cabinet from being distracted. '_Ha, serves you right, you flirt._' I smiled happily to myself and prepared to endure being eye candy again for the group of guys.

* * *

Sighing, I ran my hand through my hair and prompted my head up with my palm as I read. Already it was late and I was stressing out. Tomorrow was my day off from classes, but I had to work an eight hour shift and then meet up with Kish to start on our project together. All-in-all I would have _zero_ time to study tomorrow so I had to get as much as I could today.

"You _still_ here?" I turned around to see Ryou walking in his room from the shower. He had on a pair of pajama pants, no shirt, and was drying his hair with a towel. "It's almost eleven. You need some sleep."

"I can sleep in before I have to work," I replied, turning back to my book. "I can't study in the morning; I never remember anything during that.

Ryou took my pencil and tossed it onto my book before closing it. "Come on, you need a break. If you study too much at once you'll forget it."

"I _can't_," I protested, opening my book back up. "These count almost a sixth of my final grade! If I fail even one I'm in trouble."

"Ichigo, you're spazing out." He closed my book again. "Rest, you'll do fine."

"No!" I opened it back up. "Shirogane, I'm _really_ nervous here! I've never taken a college level test before and everyone I've spoken to say they are just as hard as they are rumored to be."

"Ichigo. Calm down." He closed my book and took it. "You're in _my_ room, and I forbid you to study anymore until you take a chill pill."

"Chill pill... I could use one right now..." I watched him walk over to his window and open it. Sitting down on the frame, he turned so his legs were hanging outside and then proceeded to light a cigarette.

"Give me one." I sat down next to him and took his lighter.

"I thought you quit?"

"I did, now hand one over." I snatched his pack and lit one myself, taking a long drag off of it. "Sweet nectar that is nicotine how I've missed you."

Ryou looked at his cigarette. "I never realized how unattractive these things make you look."

"Shove it." I laughed at him, getting a smile. "I'm not trying to attract anyone."

"Are you not?" He seemed amused by my statement. "So what was that earlier tonight?"

I exhaled, making a little ring in the smoke. "Nothing at all, why do you ask?" I gave him a cute look that told him I was going to act innocent about it. He shook his head lightly and grinned. Once again I was amazed at how different he acted sometimes. In a weird sort of way I felt almost touched that he would show this side to me. I thought a moment before sliding over next to him to warm up a little. He in turn put his arm around my shoulders.

"Ichigo?"

"Hmm?" I exhaled again, looking over at him.

"...nothing."

"...'kay."

* * *

I had counted on leaving the restaurant at five the next day in order to have plenty of time to get home to shower and clean a little before Kish came over to start on our project together. Instead I found myself next to a nervous Lettuce and a psyched out Pudding running through the streets while chasing some type of mutated dog pack. They were twice the size of normal and had this rabid look on their faces that really creeped me out.

Finally the dogs stopped running and turned to face us. Unfortunately we were in the middle of a popular park around the eastern side of Tokyo. People were screaming and running away as the dogs snarled and chased a few people. After a moment Kisshu teleported in and hovered in the air above his pets. As usual he had a falcon hovering next to him. "Welcome, Ladies!" He bowed. "Oh look, you found another one. I must be slacking in my job."

"So that's him, huh?" Pudding asked with a grin. "The one that we're supposed to defeat?"

"Yeah."

Pudding had a slight transformation to her like I did. Her knuckles were covered by a light coat of brown fur and her ears almost looked the same way. All-in-all she looked like a street fighter right out of a movie. Lettuce looked more or less the same as she did before, but I could tell she was powerful. She had five orbs of water circling her above her head. She could somehow manipulate water. Something about the way it reacted to her DNA and powers given to her when spliced with a human. Kind of like a telekinetic sort of power.

I seemed to be the most changed. Cat ears, tail, and fur covering my entire upper body up to my neck and trailing the lines of my hips. I felt a little odd running around with no shirt, even if my fur _did_ cover everything, but it was so uncomfortable I didn't really have a choice. Fortunately Keiichiro had me custom boots make that went to my knees as well as a skirt that blended in with my fur to make it look like one solid outfit. Also I noticed that my teeth were a lot sharper now and my claws were getting even more razor like. Whatever kind of animal the Iriomote Wildcat was, I sure wouldn't want to mess with one.

"Ohhhhhh. Look at that, we have spectators." Kisshu looked around. "Hey everyone! Don't worry, I won't hurt any of you... you'll die too fast to feel any pain!" With that he swooped down to the nearest person and reared back one of his nightsticks. Fortunately for whoever it was, I had reacted fast enough to black the attack. Unfortunately for me, I didn't have a weapon and my right forearm felt like it was cracked from stopping the blow. "Oh, I bet that hurt."

"You have _no_ idea." I sneered, grabbing his wrist and kicking him as hard as I could. At first he was amused, but then recoiled in pain as the tip of my boot shattered his light armor and connected with him. "Yeah, I learn quickly." I told him as he staggered back and clutched his side. Turning lightly, I addressed the person I just saved. "Get out of here, it's not safe! We'll protect you, don't worry!"

I was about to say more but I was tackled and pinned to the ground. "I can't believe you actually hurt me." Kisshu told me, amazed. "I like you more and more, Kitten!" He leaned down and kissed me, swiping his tongue across mine. "Yummy."

"Get _off_ of me you crazy perverted freak!" I managed to get both my feet under his stomach. With a hard kick I managed to sling him off of me. Kisshu only hovered in the air, though, and looked down at me. "You should know by now that throwing doesn't work on me."

I spun around and engaged in battle. Lettuce and Pudding were fighting the two chimera Animas that had originally brought us out here, leaving me to deal with the main threat.

Blocking a punch, I turned and slashed down making four claw marks appear over his chest, where his armor was neatly cut into. He once again seemed shocked and I grinned. "You're getting slow, Kisshu." Twirling around, I kicked him in the temple and made him fly a little before hitting the ground.

"You're getting stronger..." He mused, pushing himself up. "I'll have to stop playing around..."

Grinning, I leaned forward in my stance. "Oh? I thought you were serious?" I don't know why I was so into this all of a sudden. Maybe it was because I now had two people backing me up and I knew that two more were going to come. I no longer felt so alone while doing this. I had partners, and that gave me strength somehow.

Before I even noticed it, Kish was in my face and my hands were pinned. Next thing I knew he was behind me and both my arms were twisted up behind my back. He twisted them and I was shocked to realize he was holding both my wrist with his one hand. His other grabbed my tail and instantly I collapsed to my knees. "You weak point is so obvious," He told me, gripping it and making tears spring to my eyes. "I groove on that terrified face..."

"Go to hell."

"I've been there!" He countered, suddenly angry. "All of my life I've been on that scorched planet, living under ground! And here you are, on this beautiful planet destroying it!"

Gritting my teeth, I yelled out and jerked my arms free from his grasp. Turning, I managed to get a choke hold on him as he gripped my tail. We both struggled against each other before finally collapsing at the same time. Breathing hard and weak, I made my bell on my wrist charge with energy. I don't know if it'll work on someone who isn't possessed with a Chimera, but I really didn't have many choices right now. Rearing back, I prepared to punch but stopped when I saw him. A single tear rolled down his face and over his cheek. His helmet covered his nose and up but his mouth still told me he was keeping back tears. "All my life I've been told that we would have our planet back, after we had to leave it. I've dreamed of it for so long... but when I got here all I see is pollution, litter, people not caring about what they have..."

Suddenly his expression turned and I was forced on my back with his fist held up to strike. "You're destroying my dream!" He flared down and hit me hard. I felt my head jerk with each hit that came after it. Finally I managed to block a hit and squeeze my nails into his skin and pull down. Immediately four long gashes ripped into his arm and he screamed out in pain.

"You're trying to take over my planet!" I screamed at him. "Do you think that everyone on Earth is like the ones you see here!? We're in a massive _city_, you idiot, of course people are like this! If you want an unpolluted area, go to the country or something! Just stay away from us and my home!" I pointed at him. "Or I'll give you the three course serving. Of course, dessert will be first."

Kisshu growled as Pudding and Lettuce ran up next to me. "Don't think we're done yet!" The newest member called out, pointing.

"We'll never give up!" Lettuce chimed in next to me.

"So for the sake of Tokyo and the world, we'll be of service!"

Kisshu looked at us a moment before turning. "I'll come back, be assured... Osiris, come to me." The falcon flew down to its master and landed on his shoulder before they both teleported off.

Now that he was gone, I allowed myself to fall to my knees and gently touch my face. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, owwwwww." I felt tears spring to my eyes. "That really hurts..."

"Who are they?"

"Forget that, did you see that battle?"

"We're being invaded by aliens!?"

"The world is going to end!"

I gulped as people around us started to panic. With the help of my friends I managed to get to my feet by the time a news group got close enough to start recording. "Who are you super girls? What's going on? Is the earth in danger?"

"It's being invaded!" Pudding declared, making Lettuce clamp her hand over her mouth.

"How do you fight them like that!?"

Looking around, I realized that I was the one who was going to have to answer. "Don't worry nyan! We're here to fight for you. So leave the future up to us!" I turned back to the girls. "Come on, let's jet before we're all over the news!"

With a quick run and a leap, we landed on the nearest rooftop, jumped again, and made it to the next.

* * *

"Good job Mew Mews." Ryou greeted us as we walked into his room at the restaurant. "Pudding, you did excellent on your first mission. Lettuce, you're improving drastically. And Ichigo... your martial arts still suck. You at least handled the press well. Good job."

"Well ex_cuse_ me for existing." I muttered, grabbing my shirt off his bed and putting it on. My fur would fade away soon, I needed some headache medicine, and I _really_ wanted a shower. My tail hurt, my face hurt, my ribs hurt...

"Ichigo, we need you at the bar, we'll have a large crowd tonight."

"No."

"What?"

"I said no." I turned to him and almost felt like crying as it all came crashing down on me. "Look at me. I'm beat up, I haven't slept well in days, and I've been here for almost a full month and only had two days off. I have _three_ tests tomorrow, not to mention that party you're making me go to so we can advertise. On top of that I have a _twenty _page report due in a month. I can't take all this, I just can't..."

"I think you need some sleep." Lettuce offered kindly. "It'll help you rest and clear up your mind."

"I need a cigarette." I reached into Ryou's pocket and fished them out, much to his surprise. Lighting one, I collapsed onto his bed. "Can I have some privacy...please?"

"Come on girls, let's get down. Keiichiro is probably having a rough time."

"Right."

"Rest well, Ichigo." Pudding smiled at me lightly.

"Thanks."

The door closed and I brought my hand to my mouth to take a long slow intake on it. "Mom's going to kick my butt when she smells smoke on me..." I looked at it in my hand and was torn between throwing it across the room and finishing it off. My thought process was interrupted by my cell phone though. Picking it up from Ryou's desk, I clicked it on. "Hello?"

"Ichigo?"

"Ah, Kish!"

"I'm sorry, I can't make it tonight. Some... things... came up and I have to take care of them."

"That's okay. Actually it's not really a good night for me either. Three test."

"Yeah. I have two. You'll do well on them. I'll see you later?"

"Yeah."

"Ja then."

I clicked off my phone and placed it back on the desk. Just the simple act of holding my phone to my ear made my cheek hurt. I was surprised that I wasn't bruised from the abuse I took earlier. Instead I had a light red mark on both my cheeks. Curious, I took one last inhale and put out my cigarette before taking off my shirt to observe my side. There was no mark from the kick from Kisshu earlier, but I still felt sore. On top of that, I was itchy from the hair grown fading away. I hated shedding, and I'm sure Ryou would too after I clogged his shower drain.

After a quick shower, I went back into Ryou's room and crawled under the sheets. I would just study later tonight. With the date with Kish cancelled, I would have several hours free. I could stand to sleep a little. I already had several clean pairs of cloths in Ryou's closet anyway. After all the times things have come up, it was just natural now, almost as if we shared his room. I felt comfortable there like I did at my place or even at Masaya's apartment now that it was clean. Come to think of it, I also felt really comfortable on his bed as well.

Sighing, I closed my eyes. I didn't want to think about my love life right now. I was already uber confused about my feelings for the two boys. I did _not_ need that on my mind right before big test...

* * *

I jumped lightly when my cell phone rang. I must have accidentally left it in my jeans pocket when I undressed. It took me a moment to collect my breath before reaching over to it. "Hello?"

"Hey."

"Aoyama-kun." I smiled and shifted my phone so I could continue shaving my legs. Currently I was in the bathtub. "What's up?"

I heard music being played in the background as he talked. "Um, I know you have test tomorrow, but can I possibly come over and study for mine? Both my room mates have music test tomorrow so they're practicing."

"I can hear that. What time you need to come over?"

He was a little uneasy. "Um, is now a problem?" I heard the two boys laugh and start to play together. "I _really_ need to get out of here. Sorry..."

"Now?" I looked down. It would take me another twenty minutes to finish my bath at least. "Um sure, the doors unlocked so come on in. I'm...kind of in the bathtub right now."

"Oh!" I knew he was embarrassed, as was I. "Well then, I guess I can wait..." Another loud cord was played in the background and I heard the two comment over it.

"Come on over." I couldn't help but laugh a little. "Make your self at home. Got drinks in the fridge and all that. Heck, you've been over here enough."

He chuckled to himself. "Thanks I owe you one."

"See you soon."

We clicked off the cell phones and I sighed. I didn't really want him to see me right out of the bath, but if I took the time to dry my hair and make myself pretty I wouldn't have enough time to study. Oh well, he'd see me like this before long anyway.

* * *

Normally when I wore my shorts at home I would just let my tail hang out the top since they were low cut. Paired with this I had a tank top that covered a little less than nothing when I lifted my arms. Together they formed my most favorite set of 'house-wear' that I had. But unluckily for me, I couldn't wear either since Masaya was coming over. Not that I wouldn't mind teasing him like that, but I would have no place to hide my tail. So instead I wore the shorts with one of Ryou's shirts that I stole from him that went down to my knees. Topped off with a hair band to keep my ears down, I was ready to go out and meet him.

Masaya was laying on my couch with his sock clad feet propped up on the armrest on the other side. He was wearing a blue tank top and pajama pants. There was a pair of flip-flops by my door. I guess he didn't even bother getting dressed to come over. "Hey."

He leaned his head back to look at me. After seeing what I was wearing, which looked to be nothing but a shirt, he blushed darkly. "Hey. You look cute."

"Thank you." I smiled lightly. Actually I had hoped that he would comment on it. I looked at him again before kneeling down to root though my backpack and grab my psych notebook. Deciding that I wanted the couch so I could lean on the armrest, I picked his head up lightly and sat down. After crossing my legs, I let him rest against my thigh.

"Hey, you're smooth." He reached back with one hand to trail a finger along my leg.

"I just shaved," I told him as I ran a finger across his cheek. "Oh wow, you're prickly!" I couldn't help myself. I bought my other hand to his cheek as well and rubbed them. "That's so cute. You shave a lot?"

"Hey, I shave every morning." He reached up to take my hands. "I've been shaving since I was eighteen thank you very much."

I leaned over so I could talk to him easier. "I still think it's cute."

"You would."

I smiled down at him and then noticed just how close we were. He must have noticed it too because his cheeks slowly started to shade ever so lightly. "You're blushing..." I told him lightly with a small lopsided smile.

"You are too..."

"No I'm not." I leaned a little closer and could feel his breath against my lips. His hands reached up to run through my still wet hair as we kissed each other lightly. When we parted, we kissed again. This time it was softer, deeper. I kissed him a third time and acted on my impulse to slowly run my tongue over his lips. His body shivered and his mouth parted for me. Slowly we frenched as I rubbed his cheek lightly with one hand. Then I realized exactly what we were doing and pulled back quickly. "Oh!"

"What?" He looked scared.

"Study! We have to study. I can't be doing this right now." I picked up my notebook, which had fallen to the side. "Let's make out when we're done. I mean, let's get done and then make out, I mean, oh you know what I mean!" I blushed furiously and hid my face in my hands. "Oh man, I can _not _believe I just said that..."

Masaya laughed and shook his head. "Let's study first and see where that leads us."

"...yeah, okay." I smiled and put my arm on top of the couch and leaned back to get comfortable. Masaya held up his notebook to read it as well.

* * *

Kish, to my surprise, was late in the morning. He came in right when the professor was handing out the test. We couldn't talk to each other while taking it, but I gave him a smile of encouragement. Amazingly, he returned it with a half hearted one. I couldn't tell what exactly it was, but something was eating away at him. He didn't seem to really want to be with me today. When done with a test in college you were free to leave for the day. I tried to hurry on my test so I could wait to turn it in when he did, but the questions started to confuse me. Some of them I didn't even have in my notes and others were worded in a way that made me doubt my answers.

I knew that the tests were made to actually see if you _knew_ the material and not just crammed enough to pass a test. Even though I had studied all week and stayed up to two in the morning studying last night I still had to turn in my test at the end of the class period when the professor dismissed us. Although he offered to let us stay to finish, I had another test to get to so I had to turn in what I had. Kish had finished in a little under half the class time and already left. No surprise there, he _was_ a history major after all.

I managed to sprint to my psychology class in order to try and speak with Kish before the test. He was there, but still looked distracted. When I sat down he didn't even acknowledge me. He kept this gaze in front of him with his head resting on his desk. I looked at him a moment before turning back to the front of the class. Finally I snapped and looked back over at him, placing my hand on his forehead. He startled lightly and looked over at me. "You don't seem to have a fever." I held the hand to my head and noticed it felt the same. "So something must be bothering you."

"Brilliant conclusion." His lips turned up lightly at the corners.

"Hey, I try." I patted his head. "What is it?"

"I'm just confused."

"About what?"

"Life in general..." He paused a moment, then looked back over at me. "Kitten, have you ever done something you weren't really sure about?"

"What do you mean?" He had given me different pet names ever since we met. It was sort of an inside joke between us. It was as if he had a different once for each day.

"Like... say working at a place you first liked but then found out later that it was different than you had originally thought. Would you keep working there?"

"If I had to, so I could pay my bills I guess I would. But I would try and find another job, why?"

"Let's just say that my job is starting to confuse me ever since I started doing more research that wasn't issued to me to research..."

"I...don't understand."

"Don't worry about it. Believe me, if you knew, it would only cause trouble for both of us."

"You're not like a drug dealer are you?"

He just looked at me. "Ichigo, what have you been smoking?"

"Virginia Slims," I teased him lightly. I didn't really smoke, only when something was _really_ stressing me out, but I still found myself buying a pack of them for some reason. Ryou's brand was too stout for my taste. "Why you ask?" I grinned.

He shook his head. "Thanks, I feel a little better."

"That's why I'm here, nyan."

* * *

A/N: Amazingly enough, I got 90 of this chapter done the same day as I posted my last chapter. It took me four days to get that last 10 done before I could post. I hate when that happens, but what can ya do? Next chapter will be a little more interesting, and I'm going to try and fit Zakuro in there as well. Maybe even Mint as well. Oh, and before anyone leaves me a nasty review about Ichigo smoking, let me say this: I know at least ten different people who were in all type of drug prevention programs in school, did the whole nine yards on it, and still started smoking or drinking in college. So don't stone me for it. I started it in the first place for storyline so just ride with it, 'kay? Oh, and if your wondering, no I don't smoke. I can't even be in the same room with someone who does it, lol.

Anyway, see you next chapter. Please review, that's what keeps me going. XD


	9. Daytime

I knew that a Frat Party was different than the regular parties I have been to in High School, but what I saw was something I definitely didn't expect. Back in high school, people brought beer from the store and shared with their friends. Here we had set up three different _kegs_ of the stuff and shouted out that it was free, courtesy of Mew Bar and Grill. People were drunk all around me even though it wasn't past eight yet. Also the house where the party was being held at was so packed it was hard to move around. Smoke hung thick in the air, making me want a cigarette myself. It was quite a shock, but fun in a way as well. I _loved _when people got drunk enough to start acting stupid. It always made me laugh.

**TMM: College Years IX**

**By: Satashi**

To my surprise, I found Mark and Darren with their guitars up on a platform in the living room of the three story frat house. Along with them was a drummer I didn't know and a singer who I also couldn't place. I had heard about them telling me they played in a small band sometimes but I never really though about it. I gave them a wave when they noticed me and got grins in return. Mark already looked quite plastered himself.

I found Ryou a bit later. He was leaning against one of the beer kegs passing out plastic cups to people and inviting them to have some. Laughing, I pushed my way over to him and smiled before digging in his jacket pocket and fishing out the pack that he always seemed to have. "Want one?" He asked me as I pulled a cigarette out. I had left mine at home.

"No thanks." I lit it and winked before leaning next to him. "Big party," I called out over the loud music and people yelling.

"Yeah. Probably over a hundred and fifty people here." He replied, plucking my cigarette and taking a hit off of it. I took it back and glared at him.

"Get your own." I gave him the classic cute look before I started to bring it to my mouth.

"Momomiya-san!"

I almost dropped it. "Aoyama-kun! You're here too?"

"Yeah." Masaya looked over at Ryou, and was rewarded with a full glass. "You smoke, Momomiya-san?"

"Um...no. This is his, I was holding it so he could pour." I gave it back to Ryou, who raised his eyebrow at me but placed it in his mouth anyway. "Oh, Aoyama-kun, this is Shirogane. I work with him. Shirogane, this is Aoyama-kun. He's a really good friend. Lives in my apartment complex."

Both of them looked at me and then to each other. For a moment, Masaya's mouth twitched into a sneer. "Hello."

Ryou looked about the same. "I see."

I blinked. Did they... not like each other or something?

"Momomiya-san, let's dance." Masaya took my hand and pulled me toward him.

"Kya! I don't dance!"

"It's not hard." He grinned over at Ryou. "Well then, if you'll excuse _us_."

"Come back soon, Ichigo." Ryou told me with a cocky attitude. "I'll need your help to advertise."

"Okay!" I waved at him as Masaya pulled me over to the more-or-less dancing section of the house.

I really didn't know what to do at first, but after Masaya ditched his drink and started to move with the music, I just coped what everyone else was doing. My back against his front grinding away to the beat. It was fun, embarrassing, and quite amusing all at once. After a while I lost myself in the good times and let myself go. I was having a blast and didn't care about anything else at the time but having fun.

* * *

"Cheers!" I clapped my cup against someone's I didn't know and we both drank. When my cup was empty I laughed out with him and his group. "Make sure to come to our Restaurant sometime!"

"You got it babe!" They chorused before laughing and walking away.

The lights were swirling a little bit and when I turned to walk back to where I normally stood, my balance was lost and I fell forward into the chest of someone. "I think you've had enough." Ryou's voice spoke down to me. "How many have you had?"

"I dunno......thirty, forty......"

He helped me stand straight and I gave him a weird grin. "Ichigo, count to ten for me."

"One......Two......Four.......Five.......I forgot three didn't I? Three....Six....."

"Yeah, you've had enough. No more beer, do you understand me?"

I nodded dumbly. "Suuuuuuuuuuure." My words were slurring. "I've only had five."

"Five?"

"That comesafterthirty dusn' it?"

"Oh yeah. Sure does." He leaned me against a table. "Stay here. I'm going to tell Keiichiro that I'm taking you home okay?"

"I don't want to stay here, I want to dance."

"No you don't. Stay here."

"No."

"Stay here."

"Okay...." I shook my head 'no'.

"Whatever, I'll be back."

Several guys came over to me a little bit after Ryou left and I somehow managed to fill up their glasses for them. I don't know what happened after that, but after a lot of cheering and yelling I found myself up on the table dancing seductively while at least thirty guys cheered.

"Take it off!"

I raised my shirt a little to tease them and then began to pull it off, but someone leapt onto the table and grabbed me. "I think not, little girl."

I looked over at who it was and smiled. "Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Mark!"

"Come on. Down we go." He glared at the people yelling at him and surprisingly made them shut up. He leapt down and helped me down as well. "Yo, Masaya!"

"I thought that was her." He looked at me. "Ichigo, are you drunk?"

"Noooooooooooooo" I nodded my head 'yes' and my single word slurred.

"She was going to strip tease man, we should have let her and taken pictures to tape against her bedroom door so she would see them when she woke up."

"Darren, you're an idiot." Masaya petted my hair as I leaned against him. I knew I would fall down if I tried to move. "I think her co-workers are around here somewhere. One girl has green hair. Lettuce was her name I think."

"Her? She's on the outside."

"We need to get her home before she does something stupid." Masaya continued to gently stroke my hair in an effort to keep me still.

"Don't take my hair band off, my cat ears will come up." I told him drunkenly.

"Cat ears...?" He whispered, moving my hair band a little. "Momomiya-san, are you-"

"I got her." Ryou's voice suddenly came up and I felt myself falling backwards. I was caught and when I looked up I saw Ryou standing above me. He must be holding me.

"Shirogane!" I moved my hands out in an overly surprised manor. "You came back! Woohoo! Let's dance!"

"Let's not. I'm taking you home."

"I want to dance!"

"I'll take her." Masaya suddenly spoke up, stepping forward. "It's on my way anyway."

"She's _my_ responsibility." Ryou countered. The two glared at each other for a while and I finally waved my hand between them.

"I don't feel good."

Each of them made a face. Finally Ryou sighed. "You _really_ owe me." He spoke down to me before starting to walk away.

"Hey, wait!" Mark suddenly called out; making Ryou turn and making my world spin around in the process. "Here." He placed a ponytail holder on my stomach, and I was amused by it. "To hold her hair. Trust me, it sucks without one."

Ryou nodded.

* * *

The cool air helped me a little as I was carried from Ryou's car to my apartment door. I no longer felt sick to my stomach, but everything was starting to move really, really slow and it was confusing me. "Why do you drink when you know you can't hold it?" Ryou asked me as he climbed up the stairs.

"I dunno..." At least I could talk straight now. "It seemed like fun at the time."

"This is beer, not hard liquor like last time. You're going to either be sick as a dog tomorrow or have a massive hang over. Probably both. How many did you drink? Can you answer that now?"

"Five glasses maybe. I don't know, I lost some of them and refilled a new one."

"No wonder. Ichigo, you can't even handle a six pack." He slid his hand into my pocket and fished out my keys. "You're an idiot. Those cups are huge."

"Gee, thanks." I leaned my head against his shoulder as he walked in my apartment. "I don't think I can sleep."

"You won't, you're too delirious. You need to sober up some, take some medicine, and then rest." He sat my feet on the ground inside my bathroom and caught me as I almost fell over. "You can't even _stand_?" I leaned against the wall.

"I'm standing. I'm holding up the wall, see?" When I moved my head, the world spun around and I found myself on the ground, looking up at him. "Oh, the ground needs me now. Hehe, want to help me hold up the ground?"

"You need to get in the shower. Luke warm water. It'll help." I nodded lightly and took off my shirt. At least I knew how to do _that_. "What are you doing?"

"Stripping." I answered him with a weird look. "You take off your cloths before you take a shower don't you?" At least I think you did. Right now I wasn't really sure.

Ryou watched me slide down my jeans and kick them to remove them the rest of the way. For some reason I knew better than to take off my underwear but the fact that I was _in_ them in front of Ryou didn't seem to register with me.

Now clad in a bra, panties, and two socks, I slowly crawled into the bathtub and laid in it. "Now what? I'm in the shower."

"You're hopeless." Ryou sighed and turned on the water, making it shoot down on me.

Two minutes later I was strangely aware of things. Sitting up, I looked over at Ryou and realized exactly what was going on. "Kya! Pervert! Letch!" I crossed my arms over my chest and pulled my knees up to my chin. "_What_ are you doing?"

"Taking care of your sorry butt," He retorted. "Where do you keep your towels?"

"Under my sink..." I watched him like a hawk as he opened the door under my sink and took one out. While doing this, I cut off the water. Taking the towel from him, I glared. "Turn around."

He sighed and did as I requested. I waited a moment before undressing the rest of the way and standing up. Quickly I patted myself dry and wrapped it under my arms to cover everything. Unfortunately when I tried to step out of the shower, my stomach reminded me that although I could think clearly again, it was still full of liquid. "I'm going to throw up."

"Not again..." He helped me stumble over to the toilet, where I almost immediately lost everything that I drank that evening. While this went on, Ryou pulled my hair into a tight, wet, sloppy ponytail to keep it from falling in my face.

"Never gain... I'm never doing this again..." My stomach lurched again and I leaned back over, not even caring that my towel slipped.

"Next time you're on your own." Ryou rubbed my back lightly. It felt incredibly calming, and made me feel better as well. After a few second I felt my towel being wrapped around me again and tucked in over it. "How are you?"

I tried to answer, but threw up again. "Never again, I swear to the gods... I learned my lesson this time..." I leaned back. "I'm okay now. Nothing left."

"Good." He stood and picked me up to carry me. "Now to brush your teeth. Can you do that?"

"I think so." He sat my feet down gently and I held onto him a moment before leaning over the counter and grabbing my toothbrush. "My medicines in the kitchen. Above the fridge..."

"Right."

I looked in the mirror and shook my head lightly while brushing my teeth. I had seen movies in school about people drinking before. I never thought I'd do it myself. Especially enough to puke my guts out in front of a really cute boy. Come to think of it, didn't Ryou take care of me the first time I got drunk too? It was a hazy memory but tonight seemed to bring it back to me. Maybe he really did care about me...

I rinsed out my mouth with some scope and felt ten times better after doing so. Ryou came back later with some pills for me to take. Swallowing them, he held up a sleep shirt that he must have gotten from my drawer. "Arms up."

I shook my head lightly. "I sleep naked." I blushed darkly after realizing I just told him that. "My tail..." I thought of the reason why I did so after I was changed. "It gets caught up in my shirt. Wakes me up..." I wasn't about to strip the rest of the way down, even after I told him that.

"Ah." He guided me over to the bed, where I sat down, holding my towel up to my chest. He gently took it from my hands and started to dry my hair with it slowly. The feeling made me close my eyes and sigh contently. It felt really nice to be pampered like this. Coming from the cold as ice jerk Ryou only made it better. I had learned to ignore his outside face over the time that I've known him. Deep down he was one of the sweetest people I knew, and he showed that side to me more than enough to make me believe it. "There you go. Lay down."

I nodded and pulled the sheet over me before sliding into bed. I don't care how sweet of a boy he was, he got to see enough skin on me tonight to last him a lifetime; and I wasn't about to let him see anymore. But looking at him, I couldn't help but smile. "Want to stay here for the night?" He raised an eyebrow at me and I laughed a little, making my head hurt. "I meant on the couch."

"No thanks." He leaned over to kiss my forehead. "Call me if you need anything okay? I have to get back to the party. It won't be over until past one in the morning."

"Okay..." I looked up at him. Ryou was still right over me. I was reminded of Masaya yesterday, when we spent almost an hour on my bed making out when we were done studying. The way he held me and kissed me came back in my mind and before I knew it, I had my hand around the back of Ryou's neck and was kissing him as well.

Realizing this, I pulled back and blushed darkly. He only smiled down at me, pecked my lips one more time, and stood up to walk away. "I'll see you later. Come to work if you can tomorrow." He waved over his shoulder and I watched him cut off my light and then heard the front door open, lock, and then close behind him.

I looked up at the ceiling. After a moment, my lips turned into a small grin. That was actually worth everything that happened tonight. He was a great kisser.

* * *

Rolling over in bed, I wondered exactly what that screeching noise was and where it was coming from. After a moment I realized that it was my cell phone demanding to be answered. The pain in my head wouldn't go away until the noise stopped so I decided that answering it would be the best course of action. My eyes stayed closed as my hand patted my headboard for my phone. I finally managed to grab it and pull it to my ear, clicking the familiar button. "Hello?" My voice was hoarse and sounded foreign, even to me.

"Ichigo? Is that you?"

Oh great, it was my mother. "Hi mom. Yeah...I have... a cold."

"Aw, poor thing. For a moment there I thought you were hung over."

"No mom, I'm not" I groaned inwardly. My head was throbbing and I was too scared to open my eyes in fear of blinding pain from light. "Don't worry, I'm a big girl."

"Are you sure you didn't get so drunk you had to have someone hold up your hair while you threw it all up? You _did_ go to a party last night after all. I was in college before too, you know."

"No, mom, I'm not that dumb." Actually, I _was_ that dumb.

"Are you coming home? That's why I called. I need help setting up the Halloween decorations for the local haunted house the parents are doing this year."

I totally forgot about promising to do that. "I'll have to ask Shirogane for a day off. I'll call you later okay?"

"Okay Hun. Take some medicine for your headache okay?"

"I will. I mean, I don't have..."

"Mmhmm. See you later Ichigo."

"...Bye mom." I clicked off my phone and sighed. Oh yeah, I was going to get a really good lecture/teasing when I get home. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, finally opening them and looking around my room. I managed to lean over to grab my pack of cigarettes and light one just as my phone rang again, almost making me drop it on me sheets. Clicking it back on, I answered. "Hello?"

"Good morning, Momomiya-san."

"Aoyama-kun!" I winced at my own happiness that pierced into my head when I got excited. I couldn't help but curse my own stupidity once more. "G'mornin."

"Want to come have breakfast with me and the guys?"

I slowly inhaled and felt a little better already. "Sure. When should I be over?"

"We're cooking right now so come on over. You have any medicine there? I bet you have a killer hang-over."

"Yeah I...wait a second, how did you know I was hung over?" I didn't clearly remember seeing him again after I started to drink.

Suddenly I heard Darren shout in the background. "Did you tell her she stripped yet!?"

I _stripped_!? Oh. My. God.

"You started to, but Mark stopped you." Masaya read my mind. I was relieved but I already finished off my cigarette and was reaching for another to try and calm me down after hearing that.

"Aoyama-kun, do me a favor and never let me drink again?"

"Sure thing."

"You're a doll."

"I know. Coming over?"

"Be there in ten minutes."

"Great!"

I hung up the phone and collapsed into the covers. At least I would get to see him. My phone rang yet again as I was about to get up. With a low growl I clicked it on. "Yeah?"

"Good to hear from you too."

"Oh, Kish! Sorry I snapped. I have a massive headache."

"I can't talk long. I have...plans... for later today. Just wanted to check in on you to see if you've done any of the project?"

"Eh? Oh yeah, I have two pages done." Finally something today that made me proud at least. "Do you need them?"

"Nah, just wondering about where I should start on it. Okay, got to run now. I have to find someone."

"Okay. Bai bai Kish."

"See you, my kitten."

I hung up again and smile lightly to myself. His casual flirts always seemed to make me feel a little better about myself.

I finally got out of my bed and started to brush my teeth with my right hand as my left rooted through my closet for a shirt to wear. It was supposed to be cold since a front was moving in so I grabbed a tight fitting knitted sweater and a casual pair of blue jeans. After finishing up and getting dressed, I lifted my shirt a little and made my tail wrap around it quickly and tuck in under itself. I had gotten so used to my tail that I could even make it pick up small items if I wanted to. That came in handy while I was cooking. I grabbed a black hair band from my little hat rack by my door and headed out.

A quick jog in the cold woke me up completely and made my headache fade away dramatically. When I reached their apartment, I didn't even bother knocking and walked right in. "Morning guys." I kicked the door closed behind me and smiled as they waved to me as they ran around getting things. "What's going on?"

"Going home for the weekend!" Darren told me as he retreated back into his room and returned a moment later with a duffel bag and a larger mesh bag packed full of dirty cloths.

"You're going _home_ to make your mother wash your cloths?"

"What's wrong with that?" Masaya asked me, making me turn to the kitchen. He was doing the cooking it seemed. "We all are."

I put my hands on my hips. "How often do you guys go home?"

All three looked at each other a moment before Masaya replied. "I don't know? Every three weeks or so?"

"And how often do you do your laundry?"

"Every three weeks or so?" He gave me a light lopsided smile.

"You're hopeless." I walked next to Masaya and looked at what he was doing. "Want some help?"

* * *

I waved to the boys as they drove off. I was dropped by my car so I could drive to work and then leave from there to go home myself. I didn't go home last week so I was already a little homesick. At least Ryou would probably let me have a day off considering it's been two weeks since I last had one. I couldn't wait until we found the other two members of our group so I wouldn't have to work every single day of the week.

Speaking of Ryou, I was a little nervous about how to react around him today. The last part of the party was a little hazy to me, but I could still remember the small kiss we had before he left. Well, not really a _small_ kiss since tongue was involved, but that wasn't my concern right now.

I paused just outside his door and looked at it. Should I act casual? Maybe a little flirty? After all, I didn't really know my feelings clearly just yet. Maybe I should just smile at him and see what he does in return? Yes, that would be the best.

Ryou came out of his room then and I blushed lightly, looking up at him. I smiled at him shyly and clasped my arms behind my back. "Yo," he greeted me casually as he walked past.

I stood there a moment in shock before turning around and yelling at him. "'Yo!' is that all you can say!?"

He turned half way to look at me. "What do you mean?"

"No 'how are you?' or 'Do you feel okay?' or 'gee Ichigo, you sure do kiss well.'?" I clasped my hand over my mouth. "I said that last part out loud, didn't I?"

Ryou looked at me a moment before walking over to me, placing his hand on the small of my back and pulling me close to him. The next thing I knew his lips were on top of mine. All too soon they left and he gave me a cocky smile. "You sure kiss well." And with that he patted my head and turned, walking away.

I licked my lips, blushing. "You sure do have a way with girls, you know that?" I ran to catch up with him and walked alongside of him. "What if I didn't want to kiss?"

"You would have stopped me."

"You confuse me sometimes."

"I try."

"I need half today and tomorrow off so I can go home."

"Okay."

I put my hands behind my back and hummed to myself.

* * *

A/N: Meep. I did it again. The same night I updated last chapter I wrote all of this but like 500 words and just could _not_ write anymore for some reason. I'm going ahead and posting this chapter because I don't know how long it'll take me to kick this writer's block out of the way. Review please, that always helps out. Anyway, shout out to Mew Cherry a.k.a Ryou Shirogane, the owner of Neko Tokyo for giving me episode 5 of TTM, which I have been searching for for ages. I'd also like to thank all of my regular reviewers as well. I'd love to list them out here, but I'm scared I may accidentally forget one and then I'd feel bad for days on end about it sweat drop.

See you next chapter, which _is_ going to introduce Zakuro and Maybe Mint as well.


	10. Birth

I was a little weird returning home after being away for so long. Although it's only been two weeks, it was still an odd feeling. I have lived in this house as long as I can remember and the first time I ever moved was going into my apartment. Now even though it was still a familiar house, I didn't _live_ here anymore. It's a little hard to describe it, but the feeling was still there. It wasn't until I saw my old room that I realized that I _truly _didn't live here anymore.

**TMM: College Years X**

**By: Satashi**

"What did you do to my room?" I asked amazed as I walked into it. No longer was it sickingly girlishly pink like I had it, but a calm cream color. The only thing that reminded me that it once was my room was my bed that now had a different comforter on it, and my desk that I didn't take with me. Everything else was different. A small TV, a dresser, pictures on the walls, and many more things. "You turned it into a guest room?" I figured they would, but _still_! It was _my_ room. Well, it _wasn't_ anymore...but that didn't matter!

"You like it?" My mom asked me while walking in. "Took us a few days but we got it done."

Wednesday

"It looks nice."

"Aw, you're sad aren't you? There, there" My mom hugged me. I couldn't help but laugh a little and hug her back, but suddenly I was pushed at arm's length. I was about to ask what was going on, but she gabbed my sweater and pulled it to her, sniffing it. "Ichigoooooo."

Oh crap! I smelt like smoke. "What?" My mom crossed her arms and tapped her foot, glaring. "Shirogane smokes, he's my boss, and what do you want from me? I smell like beer too at the end of the work day!"

"So it wasn't you?"

"Do you think I would be dumb enough to start again?"

"Well... good point. I'm sorry honey."

I didn't _lie_ at least. Not really. She just....got the wrong idea...

I felt bad. Obviously I _was_ dumb enough to start again. I didn't have time to contemplate this, however, as my phone rang. Clicknig it on, I brought it to my ear. "Hello?"

"Ichigo! What's up?"

"Hey Darren. Nothing much, I just got home."

"Cool. Me too. Can I ask a favor?"

"Sure?" I waved my mom off when she tried to listen in on my conversation "Go away mom, this is Darren, not Aoyama-kun!"

"Spoilsport." She patted my head and left me to my lonesome in my room.

"Cool. Here's the thing. Mark is crashing at my place Sunday night and we're on the other side of town than Masaya is on. You live close by him? We can't come pick him up for school Monday because we're going to a band practice. Won't be home till late Tuesday night."

"I guess. Where does he live?"

"Where do _you_ live?"

"...I'll call him in a bit."

"Thanks! We owe you." He didn't even wait for me to reply and I heard his cell phone flip shut and then silence.

"Well, that was weird..."

* * *

My time at home seemed to go by quickly. I had a good meal that for once I didn't have to cook myself, as well as a nice long hot bath in my familiar bathtub. It was the little things that made me really realize that I was 'home' again. The smell, the feeling of being really welcome, the company, even the couch and TV made it that much better.

The only bad thing was my room was a strange sense of 'odd'. I knew everything about the room, but everything was different at the same time. It made me a little uneasy, so I decided to do something I haven't done in a while: Call Ryou. It was already past midnight, but I was still awake thanks to the cat genes in me. I took a one to two hour nap every day around lunch, so staying up this late didn't really affect me at all really.

He answered on the twelfth ring and greeted me lovingly with an "Ichigo, why on earth are you calling me at.... Twelve thirty at night..._again_."

"Because I want to. What'cha doing?"

"Sleeping?"

"Mmhmm, what else?"

He groaned and I heard the covers shift as he sat up so he wouldn't fall asleep talking to me. "Nothing else. What are _you_ doing?"

"Just kind of sitting here in my room. I'm at home."

"I thought you went to your parent's house?"

"I am."

"Ichigo, in college, 'home' is wherever you aren't at the current moment."

"That makes _no_ sense."

"You're just weird."

"Anyway, I was thinking,"

"Don't hurt yourself."

"Ha ha, very funny. But anyway, we need to do something."

"Such as?" He seemed to be walking around, and I heard him open a door and then a pause as he chugged something. Probably drinking milk straight from the carton.

"Well, Pudding, Lettuce, and I fight together, but besides work we never really hang out because our schedules are so different. I was thinking of all of us taking some time off to do something. I don't know, shopping, lunch, movie, you know. Something to just be together."

"Yeah, okay. We'll close down the restaurant for a day tomorrow. How's that sound?"

"Great! Sunday is the only day off Pudding has, so it'll have to be then. I can call them tomorrow and ask."

"Good."

I curled up in my bed to get warm, a little annoyed with my tail as it got caught up in my shirt. I wanted to wear something to bed since I was at my parent's house again. It would suck for my dad to come wake me up and me kick the covers off at night or something. "So what are you doing now?"

"Now that I'm awake?" I could tell he was only slightly annoyed at me for waking him up purposely.

"Of course." I giggled lightly. He was so cute sometimes.

"Cookies and milk. Leaning against the counter."

I smiled and decided to tease him. "What are you wearing?"

"Cloths."

I rolled my eyes. "Figures."

"What are _you_ wearing?"

"A shirt," I teased him back.

"And under that?"

I blushed darkly. "A secret." He laughed at me, and I smiled. For some reason he always could make me smile. I liked that a lot. "Or do you _really_ want to know?" I giggled a little.

"Currently these cookies are more important." I heard him bite into one.

Oh that was mean! I waited a moment to see if he would drink some milk after eating. He went quiet and I assumed he was, so I spoke out my mind. "They're pink and see-through."

Sure enough I heard him choke and cough. I laughed happily; sure he spit it all over himself. "Oh you _suck_." He growled at me as he began to clean up. "I should hang up on you right now."

"Yeah, but you won't."

"Why do I put up with you?"

"Because I'm cute?"

"More like I need help at the bar."

"Oh sure." I rolled onto my back and snuggled under my blankets. We continued to talk until I noticed that my clock clicked over to three AM. "Oh wow, we've been talking for three hours."

"Really?" I heard him shift around in bed. "Yeah, we have."

"I should let you go. See you tomorrow around lunch I guess?"

"Sure."

"Sweet dreams...Ryou." I blushed lightly at calling him by the first name.

"G'night." His phone clicked off and I gaped at my cell phone.

"Stupid jerk could have at _least_ noticed I said his name!" I fumed and chunked my cell phone across my room and buried myself under the covers. "Inconsiderate jerk has _no_ clue how a girl feels." I let out a cross between a sigh and a growl.

* * *

Luckily neither Lettuce nor Pudding had anything to do the next day so I managed to get them both to meet up with me at the restaurant. I, for once, arrived early. After letting myself in with the key Ryou had given me, I made my way up to his room and peeked I through his door. The lights were off and I could make out his sleeping image in the bed. The alarm clock above him was flashing 'snooze' in the lower right hand corner of it.

Smiling, I closed the door behind myself and made my way over to him, sitting on his bed. "Shirogane?" I shook him. "Shirogane, wake up." He mumbled something and rolled back over. I glared at him and shook him harder. "Shirogane dangit, wake up."

His eyes slowly fluttered open and he sat up, face almost slamming into mine. I blinked at him and he looked at me, face not an inch from mine. The next thing I knew, his lips met mine in a kiss.

Blushing, I pulled away. "What was that for?"

"Your face was _right_ there."

"Oh so that gives you a reason?"

He gave me a lopsided smile. "Are you complaining?"

"That's not the point." I crossed my arms. How dare he kiss me after ignoring that I called him by his first name? That's just rude. "You overslept. Get up; the girls will be here in a little bit."

"What's bugging you this morning?"

He got out of bed and I noticed he was only wearing boxers. Not wanting to give him the satisfaction of me blushing like mad and running from his room, I simply put my hands on my hips. "It could be the fact that _someone_ was inconsiderate to me last night."

"Says the girl that called me half past midnight."

My tail twitched out behind me and wagged spastically. "You have no idea about how a girl feels do you!?" I started to storm my way over to him, but I tripped over one of his shoes on the way and went flailing.

"Ichigo!" Ryou moved to catch me, but we both ended up falling anyway. I found myself next lying on the ground with him on top of me. My skirt was hiked up to my waist and my shirt was revealing my bra on one side. We just looked at each other a moment before he swallowed and spoke lightly. "Are you okay?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but I couldn't quite seem to. Instead I just nodded lightly with an "Uhn," sound. I shifted a little and blushed, offering him an embarrassed smile. He returned it in a rare, true playful smile of his own. I was sure we would both start laughing, but suddenly-

"Oh _wow_, you two are closer than I thought!" Pudding's voice sounded as she turned on the lights. "Wow, Shirogane, you move fast don't you!?"

"Oh my," Lettuce looked in over her shoulder. "Ichigo-san, at least consider your plans before doing something like that."

"This, this isn't what you think!" I tried to move at the same time as Ryou and his hand ended up slipping up my shirt. "Kya! Pervert! Hentai! Letch!"

* * *

Ryou sighed as he walked down the mall with the three girls and best friend. Again his hand went to the four small scratch marks on his cheek where I had slapped him earlier. I felt a little guilty as I watched him and I made my way to walk next to him and speak softly up at the boy. "Sorry, does it hurt?"

"Not really," he replied, looking ahead.

I looked down at my feet a little bit. "Sorry all the same. You didn't mean to feel me up did you?"

"You have nothing to _feel_." He retorted. My eyes went wide and I turned to slap him again, but he was smiling. In public, Ryou was smiling down at me. My heart started to beat fast and my vision turned back downwards as I quickened my pace to walk next to Pudding.

The girl stopped, however, and grabbed my arm, pointing. "Ichigo-neechan! Look!" She pointed at a small girl shop that was covered with small cute things and ear rings of the sort. "I want to get my ears pierced! Will you sign for me since you're over eighteen?"

"I don't know," Lettuce spoke up; standing next to us as the guys behind us just kind of looked around at other things so they wouldn't be caught in such a girly shop. "Wouldn't your mother have already signed for you by now? You're almost eighteen yourself aren't you?"

"My guardian is too busy to come here with me," Pudding replied, tastefully informing us that her mother must have died or went away. "But she wouldn't mind at all if I got them done. Oh, I know, why don't we all do it together?!"

"I already have two holes in each ear," I rubbed my left earlobe thoughtfully. I rarely ever wore two earrings at once, but my friends talked me into it a few years ago. "I don't really want to pierce the top of my ears that would hurt..."

"Aww... How about you, Lettuce-neechan?"

"Eh? My ears?" She too held her ears. "I don't know..."

"They aren't pierced?" I asked, leaning over to look. "Lettuce, you should go for it. It doesn't hurt at all, I promise."

"I don't know..."

"If Ichigo does too, will you?" Pudding grabbed both our hands. "Come on, lets all do it together!"

"I already told you, Pudding, that I..." I noticed she was looking at my stomach. "What? My belly button? Oh no, no, no. No way."

Pudding looked over at Lettuce, who smiled nervously. "If Ichigo-san does it, I will get mine done."

I knew she was trying to get out of it, as I sounded firm in the fast that I didn't want to pierce my naval, but Pudding grinned at me. "And Ichigo-neechan already told Lettuce to go for it, so that means she wants her to, which in turns that she does too!"

"What? Wait, I-" I was startled and before I knew it, Pudding had gotten an employee and gotten Lettuce nervously looking at different ear rings to go in. She looked incredibly nervous but at the same time I could tell that she had wanted this done for a while. The poor girl was probably too scared to do it on her own without friends there with her. Sighing, I grabbed Ryou's sleeve lightly. "...Shirogane... Hold my hand while they do it...?"

"What?"

I looked down. "I'm scared. My belly button is going to be pierced..." I looked up at him, and he seemed to like the idea quite a bit, as his lips turned into a half grin. "Now you're _definitely_ going to do it." I pulled him with me, not giving him a choice. If he wanted it done so much, he was going to be my moral support.

"Ichigo-neechan, does it hurt to have your ears pierced?" Pudding looked at me, and I couldn't help but giggle lightly despite my own nervousness.

"Not at all. Just pricks a little bit." I pointed to my ears. "See? I've had it done four times in all, so you can trust me."

My words made her visibly ease up and she joined lettuce to look for a design. After looking myself, I found a simple light gold hoop with a small strawberry charm on it. Well, it matched me name and all so I decided that that's what I wanted.

A few moments later I was in a chair with my shirt pulled up to my chest behind a cute fold out wall. A nice girl was chatting with me about how it wouldn't hurt at all and how it would look _so_ cute one me with my name being 'Ichigo' and all. I gripped Ryou's hand and gave him a nervous glance. His eyes were on my stomach however, making me blush darkly. "And here we go." The lady smiled at me and pulled a bit of my stomach up so she could properly do it. "You have such a cute stomach," She laughed lightly. "Makes it hard to get it right. Don't worry; I've been doing this for years. Ready? Here we go."

She pulled the trigger on the small gun device and gave me a new belly button ring.

"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuucccccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhh"

Pudding dropped the small ear ring packet she was holding and swallowed thickly as I limped lightly out of the folding wall. "Ichigo-neechan... did it...hurt that bad?"

Lettuce looked absolutely horrified, hand on her mouth.

"It only hurt a little," I smiled lightly, standing up straight and lifting my shirt a little to show them. "But that wasn't me screaming."

"My _hand_!" Ryou coughed out, holding it lightly, tears in his eyes. "Oww...."

Pudding instantly broke into laughter. "Shirogane-niichan, you scream like a five year old girl on helium!"

* * *

We continued on our way in the mall with me walking a little slower than normal and almost constantly pulling up my shirt just a tad when no one was looking so I could see it again. Ryou was still looking at his right hand every now and then, but my left hand was holding his in a friendly manor in a way to apologize for crushing his other one. Pudding was humming to herself, sporting a simple gold stud in both ears. Lettuce had simple emerald gems in her ears, also small. Keiichiro had his hands in his pockets as he walked along with us. Although he hasn't done anything yet, I could tell he was happy to be with us all. He didn't get out much since he owned his own business and did most of the mew mew research. I couldn't blame him for enjoying just being out of the house for a change.

Pudding clasps her hands behind her back as she walked. "It's a shame it's not summer time. We could all go to the pool or something."

"We could," I thought aloud. "The place on campus has an indoor swimming pool. It's heated so it'll be warm. Ever been there?"

"Of course not," Pudding looked at me sideways. "I'm seventeen, Ichigo-neechan."

"Oh yeah," I scratched my cheek. "We could go... I can bring in two guests at a time, and so can Lettuce..."

"I don't have a bathing suit though," Lettuce spoke up nervously.

"It's okay. It sounds like fun. I haven't been swimming in a long time," Keiichiro spoke out, making me smile. "We can all go shopping for swimsuits when we're about to leave. My treat."

"Oh, I couldn't possibly..."

"Its okay, Lettuce," Ryou interrupted her. "He's as rich as I am."

I snorted. "You just want to see us in bikinis."

Ryou looked down at me and smirked. "You don't really have a lot to look at."

"What, are you calling me flat chested!?" I took my hand from his and crossed them across my chest, glaring. I knew I was a little...under-devolved... but that didn't mean he could _say_ it! I looked over to my left and suddenly got a wicked idea. "Shirogane-chaaaaaannnnnnnn! Come with me in this store!" I grabbed his hand and pulled him with me.

Ryou stumbled a little bit and by the time he realized just what was going on, Pudding was already laughing while going over to a bench to sit and wait for us. It was then that he found out that I had drug him into the Victoria Secret store. His face immediately went red. "_What_am I doing in here?" He whispered harshly into my ear as I led him deeper in by his hand.

"Helping me shop," I replied easily, passing to look into a small section. After a moment, I took out a g-string. "Would this look nice on me?" I winked at him and he actually took a step away from me.

"Er...I..."

I smiled. "I'll take that as a yes." I put it in a small basket I got at the door and continued on, picking up a see-through lacy black bra. "Oh wow, look at this. It would match perfectly wouldn't it?" I held it to my chest. "What do you think, Ryou-chan?" I stepped closer to him and put my hand on his chest. "Would you..." I looked up at him and dropped my voice, talking huskily up to him. "Like to see me in this...?" Slowly I ran my tongue over my lips. "Or maybe...Out of it...instead?"

His face paled and slowly his eyes rolled up into his head just as a small trail of blood came to his nose. A moment later, he hit the ground. "Ha!" I snorted down at him. "'Not much to look at' my foot! That'll teach you to mess with me."

Several girls around me suddenly cheered me on, and I took a little bow as Pudding and Lettuce guided a blushing Keiichiro in the shop to help carry out Ryou.

* * *

"Wha...?" Ryou learned forward and took the small cloth of ice from his forehead. "What happened?"

"You passed out," I told him simply. "Are you okay?"

"Where is everyone?" He looked around. We were both on a bench someone on a lonely section of the mall.

"Over there." I pointed to a store far away. "Buying swimwear. Pudding is going to get one for me. I was watching over you."

"How long was I out?" He sniffed and wiped his nose when I gave him a tissue. "Not bleeding at least..."

"About two minutes," I answered him, puffing out my cheeks in anger. "Still think I'm not much to look at?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but closed it when he saw my face. "Um, sorry." He scratched his cheek. "I was just messing. I didn't mean to hurt you..."

I looked in front of us a moment before lightly scooting over next to him. The boy took the hint and let his arm fall over my shoulders. "You know..." I spoke softly. "I wouldn't mind it...if you acted nice all of the time...Ryou-chan."

His hand tightened a little on my shoulder, and I knew that he had heard me at least. "I am who I am," He replied lightly. "But... I'll try I guess. I feel like it."

"I'd like that." I looked up at him and offered a smile, which he took and returned. He then noticed my pink bag in my hand and blushed again. "I got a few things," I blushed as well, sliding the Victoria secret bag into another, larger bag that I had. Still looking down, I fidgeted a little. "Sleep ware that I can put on for naps..." My cheeks grew hotter. "Stuff I wouldn't mind you seeing me in..." I shyly looked over to the side to see his reaction, and I noticed her was gone. I didn't even feel his arm being taken away from my shoulder. I fumed darkly and growled.

A moment later, however, a cookie was in front of me. Looking up, I saw that Ryou had one as well. I took it from him and bit into it, noticing it was warm and filled with a cream. "I saw them being taken out of the oven over there," He pointed at the cookie place in the food court across the hallway. "So I thought you'd like one."

"For being an idiot, you sure are smart sometimes." I smiled and we shared a drink together as we waited for our friends.

* * *

A/N: I don't know. I just don't know. One moment I'm writing fine, getting 3-4 k words every few days and then it just.....I don't know. Writers block. We all know the feeling. This chapter isn't even done but I've waited so long, I feel like I at least owe you what I have so far. This is already almost as long as "College Mew Mew" and it was 21 chapters long. Wow. But anyway, sorry for the long delay. I hope you at least found this chapter funny. Please revuew and encourage me xx I'm having trouble writing.


	11. Life

"And serve!" I threw the ball up into the air and launched myself after it, neatly sending it sailing over the net. Ryou easily knocked it up into the air and Keiichiro leapt behind him, slamming it back over onto our side. Lettuce made her move for the ball and succeeded in knocking it over to me, allowing me to send it into a spike over to their side. Keiichiro's hand barely managed to catch it to send back over to Ryou, who slammed it down hard, hitting the floor just next to lettuce.

"Point!" The two high fived each other

**TMM: College Years XI**

**By:**

**Satashi**

Pudding yelled out happily as she dived into the swimming pool, making a large splash. Lettuce was next to me, arms huddled with mine as we debated our strategy. Ryou and Keiichiro were tied with us in a game of volleyball. So far I had found out that Lettuce wasn't the best player, but she was giving her all for me. We had barley managed to stay in the game this long, making it match point for both of us. Whoever would score the next round would win the game and be treated to dinner.

"Okay, Lettuce. We can do this." I adjusted the strap to my bikini top that Pudding had picked out for me. "I have a plan."

"It's their serve," She replied in a whisper, glancing over at the two boys who were waiting on us. "If they hit it to me, they'll score just like always. I can't send it over good…"

"Don't worry, it'll be fine. I know their weakness."

"What is that?"

I pointed at her. "That."

"What? She looked down. I don't understand."

"You're in a bathing suit."

"So?"

I winked. "Ryou will serve to me since I'm on the left side of the court. That way he'll serve from the right. By doing this he'll guarantee you having the ball last."

"He always spikes it when I do that though!"

"Exactly." I winked at her. "Come on Lettuce! Let's show them the full power of the mew mews!" I spun around and pointed at them. "Mew mew style, mew mew grace, mew mew volleyball, in your face!"

Ryou gave me a blank look. "What are you smoking?"

"Game on!"

"Game on!" Ryou threw the ball up and slapped it over to me, just like I planned. Lettuce gave a small meep sound as the ball came over to her. Twirling, she slapped it back over the net.

"Ryou!" Keiichiro easily tapped the ball into the air near the net.

I narrowed my eyes and ran forward. Ryou was running to the net as well. His eyes met mine and narrowed as he launched him self into the air, moving his hand back to spike the ball down on the ground. I placed myself where the ball would land. His hand started to move forward as my hands went to the bottom of the top section of my bikini. "Ryou, look!" I pulled it up over my chest.

Ryou's eyes went wide and his swing went wild, missing the ball completely and having it smash right into his face. The next moment he landed roughly on the ground as I covered myself back up, blushing like mad. The ball landed on his side, scoring us the winning point.

He wasted no time in jumping to his feet and holding his nose where the ball hit him and pointing at me with his other hand. "You cheated! Redo that last set!"

"Cheated? How did I cheat?"

"Illegal use of…….of….."

"Of _what_?" I demanded, yelling at him. "You missed the ball!"

"Because you distracted me!"

"I did no such thing!"

"Did too!"

"Did _not_!"

"Now, now" Keiichiro waved his hands lightly, getting between us. "The girls won, Ryou. They got the last point."

"She _cheated_!" He pointed at me again, revealing his nose which was red and bleeding slightly. "You can't call that fair!"

"I think I want a large banana split after dinner," I was telling lettuce when Ryou looked back over at me.

"Oh that sounds wonderful," Lettuce replied happily. "But first, we need to join Pudding, she's calling over to us."

"Sounds like a good plan." I turned to walk off with her, pausing only a moment to look over at a still pissed off Ryou and stick out my tongue at him.

* * *

I yawned as I walked into my room later that night. I had just gotten out of the shower and was drying my hair with a slightly damp towel. My cloths were already packed and ready for me to leave tomorrow morning and go back to my apartment. I kind of missed my apartment. It would be nice to be there again, where I can let my ears and tail be free all the time.

Falling back onto my bed, I looked over at my cell phone as it flashed lightly, signaling that I had missed a call. I picked it up and held it at arm's length, flipping it open to look at it. The number wasn't in my cell phone, but the first part of it told me that it was in my local area, as it matched the first few of my parent's phone number.

Curiosity took over and I brought it to my ear and pushed the button on the side. "You have _one_ voice message." It told me in a robotic voice. A moment later a beep was heard and Masaya's voice came to me. "Momomiya-san, did Darren get a hold of you? Would it be too much of a problem if I can get a ride back to the college? Give me a call, please?"

I looked over at my clock. Normally I wouldn't hesitate to call him back, but this wasn't his cell phone, so I assumed it was his parent's number. Testing, I pressed his speed dial button on my phone and six rings later, I got an automated message proudly telling me that the cellular customer I was trying to reach was either unavailable or out of area.

Sighing, I told my phone to call the number I got the voice message from and got a woman answering a few rings later. "Aoyama residence."

"Um, hi. Is Ao- er, Masaya-kun there?"

"Who is speaking?"

"Momomiya Ichigo."

"One second, pleases." I heard her place her hand over the receiver, but my ears could still make out what she was saying. "Honey, someone is calling for Masaya. It's a _girl_!"

"Wow, that's a first. No girl has called for him since high school when he was on the kendo team. I'll go get him."

"He's on his way," The voice was suddenly unruffled and I realized she was speaking to me again. "You said your name was Ichigo-san?"

"Th-that's right." She was making small talk with me, how polite of her. "I live in the same apartment complex as him. I'm supposed to be giving him a ride to school tomorrow."

"Ohhhh, that's why your name sounded familiar, Masaya has been talking about you."

A sharp blush went across my face. "Good things, I hope."

"He thinks you're cute."

"_Mom_!" Masaya's voice came in the room and after a quick laugh from his mother, he claimed the phone. "Momomiya-san?"

"Masaya-kun!" My cheeks grew hotter. "Er, Aoyama-kun…..er…..whatever….." I looked down a little, embarrassed.

"…Ichigo?"

"Yes?" My heart was pounding. He called me by my first name…

I heard the sound of a door closing then something like him falling on the bed. "Sorry about that. My mom's favorite past time is teasing me it seems."

"It's all right… So, um, you called?"

"Yeah. Can I bum a ride with you tomorrow?"

"Where do you live?"

"Well, you know where the grocery store on twenty Sixth Street…"

* * *

Masaya, ironically, lived not too far from me, just on the other side of the dividing line of schools. If he was a block over, I probably would have gone to the same high school as him. Looking out my window, I saw him sitting on a bench where the designated meeting spot was. My mom had woken me up twenty minutes early so I could find the spot with plenty of time. That's why I was a little surprised to see him there already. He had to be at least half an hour early.

I smiled at him when he saw me and soon he was in my passenger side seat. Our weekend information was exchanged on the drive to class. He had a pretty dull time it seemed, and was really looking forward to being back at his place.

I was excited too, although I had to work today after classes again. Not that I minded, it was getting even more fun now that I was used to it and could do neat tricks with bottles. "Ne…Ichigo?" His voice snapped me from me thoughts and I blushed lightly at hearing my name from him again. "Did you see the news paper the other day? About those girls who fought off that monster that attacked?"

I had to grip the steering wheel to keep from swerving after hearing that. "Eh? What? I don't know anything about that group. Nothing at all, he he…."

He was looking at me funny. "Ichigo… they have been showing up a lot more recently… and one of them has cat ears and a tail…"

"So?" My voice was a little angry all of a sudden. "It's not like they _want_ that to happen to them! I bet it's a major pain. Hiding because people would think they are freaks….. Fighting all the time, saving a world that they are scared of being open in…" I felt a tear come to my eye. I never thought about it before… I always just… _hid_ myself. If anyone found out…..anyone at all….

Masaya turned to look out the window. "Sorry. I didn't mean to his a nerve…" A small silence passed between us. I then felt his hand fall on mine on the gear shift. He was still looking outside though. "Just want to say… That I'd like to thank them. The one with the ears and tail… I bet she's a real nice person. No one would mind the way she looked…"

I moved my fingers to lace through his, but didn't say anything aloud. Instead I sent him a small silent 'Thanks' my own special way by rubbing the side of his hand.

Did he know it was me? Was that why he brought it up? Should I… tell him?

The rest of the trip was made in silence.

* * *

It felt good to be at my apartment again. The guys were all going to be over for dinner, and I knew it would be good for me. Laughing and carrying on while they all acted stupid and talked about what they did over the weekend. I couldn't wait. It would take everything off my mind. No worrying about the way Ryou was acting, no worrying about my relationship with Masaya as well, and no worrying about my term paper with Kish to finish. Just fun with them. Nothing at all to worry about, just like normal here.

The door burst open and Mark ran in, followed by Darren. In a mad rush, they closed the door and ran to my room. "If he police come, we're not here!" Mark shouted to me in a harsh whisper before scrambling under my bed. Darren didn't waste anytime in running into my closet.

... Just like normal around here.

* * *

"One Mai Tai coming right up!" I told my customer before winking and moving away to the blend charts in the cooler. Opening it up, I completely ignored them and grabbed some ice and tossed it in a blender before snagging some rum and pouring three seconds worth into a semi-large glass. Kicking the door of the cooler closed, I dumped in the ice, stirred in some fruit and plopped a straw in it. The total time taken wasn't even a minute.

I caught a bottle thrown at my by Ryou without even looking and rolled it over the top of my hand before grabbing it upside down and letting it pour into the glass in front of a customer. Mentally I counted off the seconds before stopped with a flip of my wrist, which sent the bottle spinning back over it and allowing me to blindly throw it back to Ryou as I caught the other one tossed in my direction. I didn't even know what this person ordered, but by the combination of alcohol, I instantly placed it in my mind and perfectly filled his glass before giving it a small stir "Please enjoy."

"Last call!" Ryou yelled out, making people look up. "Finish your whiskey or beer. You don't have to go home but you can't stay here. Ten minutes guys!"

I smiled. It was almost eleven finally. I really didn't mind working nine hour shifts here. At first it was too much for me, but now it was almost natural. Classes until noon, an hour lunch, an hour nap, and then working till closing time with a few breaks in-between to sit down. Tuesdays and Thursdays were a little more complicated now since we had earlier hours for lunch time, but I still always managed to get my cat nap in at least. I got to go home early those days as well, leaving plenty of time to study and do homework.

I flirted with the man in front of me as he paid for his drinks. He was a little past 'tipsy' and was already wobbling to get off his barstool. "You have a ride home, Mr. Kentaro?"

"Nah, Cutie, I can drive." He stumbled back and I smiled lightly.

"I'll call you a cab. You can pick up your keys tomorrow." I held out my hand and he reluctantly gave me his keys, allowing me to tie a small twist-tie on it with his name. "Be a good boy and wait outside, it'll be here shortly." I waved happily to him as he turned. He was a regular customer, and one I personally liked. He tipped big and was always really nice to me. There were a few regulars now; mainly on my shift I'm told. Probably because I fell into the bartender cliché of 'tell me all your problems, I'll help you fix them'.

After the last customer was gone and the tables were clean, I hopped up onto the bar and lit a cigarette while Ryou finished pulling the ties on the garbage cans. "Good work today, Ichigo."

"Thanks," I smiled at him happily, but noticed his eyes were trailing down my body to my stomach. My shirt showed off my navel, and let him see the small strawberry charm on my new belly button ring. "Mou, don't look…" I pulled my shirt down a little, blushing. "Pervert…" I yawned loudly.

* * *

"What do you mean; I have to go to the party?" I asked Ryou as we walked across the campus. It was already Wednesday and I was about to go to my last class. Ryou randomly found me walking and decided to grace me with his presence.

"Remember when I walked you home a while back and told you I had that meeting? This is that party, a lot of important people will be there. Come on, it'll be fun."

"For you maybe, I'm just a normal girl!" I snorted at him. "I don't belong at parties like that." My tail was twitching in annoyance, but I could fortunately keep it around my waist still. "You probably hired some world famous person to perform there too, didn't you?"

"Yup. Keiichiro will play on the piano for me." He looked down at me "You have to go. I need a date."

"Oh, so I'm just convenient to you, huh?"

"More or less."

"Mou!" I turned and slapped him, making everyone stop and look at us. "What happened about being nicer? Don't you know how a girl feels?"

He didn't reply. Instead he turned and looked the other direction. "You can have tonight off from work." And with that, he started to walk away.

"…Jerk." I sniffed and started to walk into the building that housed my last class when I noticed Masaya looking at me. Instantly I blushed as the crowd of people that gathered started to slowly part ways. "Um, hi…" My eyes looked down at my shoes.

"That's your boss?" He stood next to me and watched Ryou walk away. "Sounds like a total ass, no offence."

"None taken, he is." I looked over my shoulder at him. "But that's just how he is. Underneath it all, he's a really sweet guy. Sometimes I just have to smack his ego off of him before he'll show it…"

"I see…" He looked over at me. "What you doing after class?"

"Food then napping at home."

"Want to eat together?"

"Eh?"

"I'm asking you on a date." He smiled down at me, making me blush hard.

"Okay! I mean, um, yeah, I'm free, lets do lunch…"

He laughed at me before grinning and starting to walk off. "I have to run to class, I'll meet you at the Union after it's over?"

"I'll be there!" I waved at him and smiled. At least today wasn't a complete waste. I could eat with Masaya and then go home, sleep for an hour or so, and have plenty of time to get to work tonight. Of course I was given the day off, but me and Ryou both knew that I couldn't leave him to take care of the bar alone.

As I walked to my class, I shifted my book bag on my back and thought about what happened. He obviously wanted me to go to the party with him, but he didn't have to be so mean about it. Still, it _was_ how he always was- just as I told Masaya. I grinned. Maybe I could get out of working at the Halloween party if I went with him to this one.

* * *

"So this is the list of who's going to come?" I took the piece of paper from Keiichiro and looked over it. "Oh wow, a lot of people are going to be here. Where will it be?"

"On Ryou's yacht. On the Tokyo Harbor. We'll start a little after lunch and entertain for a few hours, then serve dinner and have a ball."

I swallowed. "I won't have to dance will I?"

"Of course," Keiichiro smiled at me. "It's a party after all."

Licking my lips, I looked back at the list. "Hey, the actor Fujiwara Zakuro is invited! Oh wow! I always wanted to meet her."

"Ryou can introduce you, they have met before."

"Really?" I hopped a little in place. "That would be so cool!" I looked back at the list to see if anyone else I wanted to meet was on it. Many names caught my eye, but none that I just absolutely had to shake hands with. "Hm? Keiichiro, who is Aizawa Mint?"

"Zakuro's assistant. She's very rich. Ryou has known her for quite some time, being invited to most of her parties. She has an annual Tea party, and Ryou was introduced to her there."

"Hmmm…" I leaned against the wall. "Still, I wish Ryou had told me about this sooner, or at least been nicer about it." Keiichiro suddenly went quiet, making me look over at him. "Is something wrong?"

He seemed a little reluctant to talk about whatever it was that had made him quiet down like he did, but when I opened my mouth to apologize he started to speak. "This…isn't really a good time for Ryou."

"What do you mean?"

"You know his parents are dead?"

"I didn't know, what happened?"

He sat what he was cooking to the side and walked over to the table to sit down. When he pulled a chair out for me, I took the hint and sat down as well. "It happened several years ago, when he was only ten… That was when we first found out about the Chimera Animas and the danger they posed to us."

"I don't understand?" I never really thought about it, but I guess it made sense. They were well prepared when Kisshu first attacked us.

Keiichiro closed his eyes and looked down. "At the time, I was working for his father. I was probably almost eighteen at the time. Ryou was always bullied at school because he was so smart." I started to giggle at the thought, but then he continued. "His I.Q. was well over one-eighty."

I gasped. One-sixty was considered 'genius'. "Oh wow…. I knew he was smart, but…"

His lips twitched into a small smile. "I convinced his father to put him in a university. When I was going to propose the idea to Ryou, we were on the road…That's when we heard a loud explosion. We sped the rest of the way to his house and saw it in flames… His parents… were burned alive."

My hands went to my mouth.

He looked over at the calendar. "Every year he holds a ball on that day. One to honor his mother and father, to show the world that they will always be remembered. But it isn't easy. I know. This time each year he is always moody, always short tempered, and cries at night."

"I …never knew…" No wonder he was so short with me today. I had refused to come with him on such an important event.

"What he needs most is a friend to be with him. Ichigo-san, please go with him. He has never had a date with him before."

I nodded lightly. "I will."

"Aside from that…" His tone got a little lighter. "We moved to Japan a few weeks after his house was destroyed. Using his intelligence, Ryou decided to skip a university and went straight to the Dean of students and requested to take the complete test for his full degree. One spanning eight years of college work."

"He passed it?"

He chuckled at me. "Of course not. He's a genius, but at only ten years of age, there was no way he could possibly do that. He took it again several months later and then a third time almost a year after that. His final time, he not only passed, but made the highest mark anyone has ever gotten. He was twelve at the time."

"Oh wow….just wow…"

Keiichiro nodded. "Now with a college degree, he could easily buy land and have a house built for him. We stayed there for several years, working almost non-stop on the Mew Project. Finding some way to fight off the aliens, the chimeras."

"Why was that so important?"

"Oh, forgive me…" He looked down, saddened. "That night, in the fire… we saw our first chimera. One born of flames. That was why Ryou took over his father's research."

"And when did you succeed?" I pointed to my neck, where a small mark was. "Was I the first one?" I was a little unnerved at that. What if it didn't work?"

"It was tested," a new voice came up as Ryou walked into the kitchen. "I thought I told you to take tonight off?"

"I wanted to tell you that I didn't have a dress for the party." I stood up and tried not to cry at the sad story of his life that I just heard. It must have been so hard for him. "What should I wear? And I don't know how to dance, either."

Ryou blinked and looked surprised a moment before covering himself. "I'll have you one custom made. As well as a matching hair band to keep our ears down."

"Thanks." I fidgeted a little bit before running over to the door. I was about to start crying. "Ryou, I'm going to change for work! I'll be back shortly."

"Ah." He watched me run out of the room and turned to Keiichiro. "Did you tell her-"

"Of course not."

He nodded. "Thanks, Keiichiro…"

"That's why we're the best partners."

Ryou looked away a moment and then back to him, smiling. "Ah."

* * *

I had always wanted to wear a dress like the one Lettuce was helping me into ever since I could remember. It was elegant, made of the finest silk, custom tailored to my body, made by hand selected world-famous designers, and along with the jewelry I was loaned to wear with it, I was sporting around almost five thousand dollars.

And I couldn't get the damn zipper behind me to zip properly. "Lettuceeeeeee, help me!"

"Calm down, Ichigo, here." She placed her hand on the small of my back and gently slid it upwards. "There."

"Do I look okay? Is my make-up right?" I looked over in the mirror, nervous. I needed to leave soon, and I wasn't near as ready as I hoped to be.

"You look fine," Pudding told me from sitting backwards in my computer chair. "Very lovely."

"Thanks, Pudding." I nervously looked in the mirror to see myself. The dress was wonderful, tightly hugging my breast down to my waist, where it flared out dramatically with all sorts of silk nets and mesh see-through materials. My waist, where it flared out, had a special addition to it. On the back, it flared out earlier than the rest of the dress. Although it looked to be just a design of it, this allowed my tail to easily and comfortably hang down. I was very relieved I didn't have to have it around my waist tonight. I don't think I could possible dance like that… Not that I could dance _anyway_, but that wasn't my main concern right now.

"Hold still," Lettuce scolded me as I fidgeted. She was currently placing the small tiara in my hair. It was blessed with rubies to match my dress, as well as some other type of gem that matched my eyes. I couldn't for the life of me remember the name of it, but only that a singe one of them cost more than an entire month's paycheck for me.

"Ah, that must be Ryou!" I squealed as I heard a knock on my door. I had no idea what he would look like, so I was eager to meeting him tonight.

Pudding answered the door for me, letting Keiichiro in. He was wearing a white tuxedo that also looked like Ryou had it made just for him. "Hello, Pudding, is Ichigo-san ready?"

"Where's Ryou?" I asked, a little disappointed.

"Ah, Ichigo-san. You look marvelous." To my surprise, he actually kissed my hand.

I felt my cheeks color. "You look nice, too."

"Ryou sends his apologies, but he was needed on his ship for the final preparations. I'm here in his place to escort you to the ball."

"Ball?"

He winked at me. "'Party' isn't the right word for it once you're there."

I felt even more nervous now. "I'm going to make a fool of myself, aren't I?"

Keiichiro gave me a lopsided smile. "I don't think so…."

"Ichigo is going to trip on the middle of the dance floor!" Pudding suddenly declared, dancing around me. "Fall down, and go splaf!"

"Pudding!" Lettuce grabbed her and put her hand over the younger girl's mouth. "Don't listen to her, you'll be fine. Just remember what I showed you."

I nodded lightly. Lettuce, having gone to a privet high school, has had formal dances before. Although she told me that she only had a date once, she knew how to waltz very well. It was an old dance, but I was told that it was still a favorite among the elite, upper-class people. I wouldn't consider Ryou neither elite, nor upper-class, but I knew first hand he had enough money to buy Japan twice over, so I figured I should learn it, just incase.

Walking down the stairs was nerve racking in my high heels. They were platform style for balance while still making me look fashionable, but halfway down I finally gave up and allowed Keiichiro to carry me the rest of the way down. Once he sat me on my feet again, I sighed audibly. "I'm not going to make it through this…"

"You'll be fine. Come on, they're waiting on us." He put his hand on my back to encourage me to walk forward. It was then that I noticed he had a _limo_ parked at the walkway to my apartment. The driver was by the door with it open, bowed toward us. Several people from my apartment complex were looking at us. Being a Sunday, most people were outside. This also meant that all the people I normally talked to on the way to my car or the campus walk-way were also out here.

Blushing horribly, I walked with Keiichiro towards the limo and almost made it to the vehicle before hearing Mark shout out behind me. "Holy hell, is that you, Ichigo?"

I turned around quickly and put my finger to my lips. "Shush, Mark!"

He didn't seem to hear me, or chose to ignore it, and yelled out to his side. "Masaya! Darren! You just _got_ to see this!"

Oh no! Masaya!

The two boys walked over to join his friend, and froze when they saw me. "I-Ichigo?" Masaya's mouth dropped a little bit.

"Um, um hi!" I waved lightly.

"You must be Aoyama." Keiichiro smiled at him and walked over to Masaya, extending his hand. "Akasaka Keiichiro. Nice to meet you."

Masaya collected himself and shook his hand. "Just call me Masaya. Forgive me for asking, but where are you two going?"

"The ball on the Tokyo harbor."

"The one with all the movie stars?" Darren suddenly asked aloud, amazed. "We had to detour like three miles out of the way because the police closed down the roads there so all the people could get there easily!"

All three of them looked at me. "I'm, just…meeting a friend…"

"I knew she was more than what she let on!" Mark whispered to Masaya, getting elbowed in the ribs.

"Well, we must be off." Keiichiro bowed lightly to them and helped me into the limo.

After the door closed, I reached into my purse and fished out my cell phone. Not much was in it, being freshly given to me, but I still managed to fill it full of random things. "I can't believe they saw me…" I laughed nervously as I started writing out a text message.

Keiichiro covered his mouth lightly and laughed.

* * *

"You're blowing up, man." Mark tossed Masaya his cell phone, which he caught. "Message from your girl."

"The famous movie star-limo girl?" Darren asked playfully.

"Shove it, you two." Masaya looked down at his phone and started to read.

_I'll be home late, feel free to study at my place if you want. Wish me luck; I've never been to a formal ball before…_

_Ichigo. _

He smiled lightly and flipped his phone shut.

* * *

"This can't possibly be _his_ ship."

"Yeah, it is kind of big, isn't it?"

I looked over at Keiichiro as he escorted me to the stairs leading up to the ship. "You're not kidding? He really owns this?"

"He bought it a few years ago. Uses it for his party once a year and the other time he rents it out to a cruise line. He actually makes money off it."

"What an investment… Speaking of Ryou, where is he? I can't believe he drug me to this party-thing and didn't even pick me up." The top of the stairs came into sight and I had to hold back a gasp. There were people everywhere, all dressed up in tuxedos or gowns like mine. Although I could easily guess that some of them cost more than the one I was currently wearing, I still couldn't help but feel a little out of place. I may look the part, but I was still your average girl.

What if I walked funny or something?

"Ah, there she is. Ichigo!"

I turned to the voice. "Ryou!"

"I'll take my leave then." Keiichiro bowed lightly to me and went off to attend to some business I guess.

* * *

It was weird at first; being around people I didn't know who all knew the person I was with. After a while I fell into it, though, and actually started to enjoy myself slightly. So far I was only used when being introduced with Ryou, or when he needed to glad-hand a few people who were future business partners. I quickly found out that what I did also reflected him as well.

Of course, this didn't make me feel any better

Sighing, I leaned against the railing of the ship and suddenly wished that it was in motion so I could watch the sea drift by. I had lost Ryou a little while ago and was currently wandering around while trying not to get too terribly misplaced. At least I knew were the dinning room was, so I could meet up with him there if all else fails.

"Hello." I blinked and looked to my left, where someone with long purple hair leaned against the railing beside me. "Not with your boyfriend?"

"Boyfriend?" I had to think a moment before I realized that she was talking about Ryou. "Oh no, Ryou's just a friend. I work for him."

"Oh?" She laid one arm down across the railing and used the other to prop her cheek up. "Is he a hard boss?"

"Not at all." I looked out to the ocean as well a moment before glancing back over at her. For some reason, I just felt like I should know who she was. "He's a really nice guy once you get past his ego."

"Bet that's hard to do."

I laughed. "Once you know the right buttons to press, it's not bad." Then it hit me. "Oh! Oh, oh, you're Zakuro!"

"I am." She was a little taken aback by my outburst, but at the same time hid it well.

"I'm a big fan." I bowed to her, remembering to keep my cool.

"A big fan? How ironic."

That voice!

I looked back out to the sea, but only saw Kisshu hovering in the air with his falcon beside him. "Kisshu!" I instantly moved in front of Zakuro to protect her from anything he could throw at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Taking care of people like you!"

The voice was behind me, shocking me enough to let my guard down. I felt a hot pulsating rope around my neck and was jerked backwards before I even knew what was going on. The rope got tighter, cutting off my circulation all at once and making me scrape at it desperately to try and get it off.

"Good Job, Zakuro!" Kisshu congratulated her as he flew to land next to the girl who I realized for the first time was the one attacking me.

"Za….Zakuro!" A sudden gust of wind picked up, taking my off my already loosened tiara and letting it fly into the wind. But what worried me was Zakuro's hair, which was now robbed of its veil. Two wolf ears graced her head. "You're a….a…"

Zakuro gripped the whip tighter and jerked on it, forcing me to stand. "Once I beat her, we'll be back to normal, right?"

"Ah, that's right. No more ears or tail. You'll have your life back again."

I lunged forward, gaining slack in what I now realized was a whip made out of pure light it seemed. The handle looked to be some sort of high tech weapon, probably given to her by Kisshu. "What's going on here? How did you become a mew mew?"

Her eyes narrowed and her whip lashed out at me, forcing me to the air in a jump to escape it. "What do you mean how did I become one? _You_ are the one who did it to me!"

"I didn't do anything!" I protested loudly, landing in a crouched position. I felt my genes take over, but I forced the feeling down. I didn't really feel like growing an instant lair of fur and then losing it inside this pretty dress. I figured the tiara I lost was several thousand yen more than I could afford.

"Shut up!" She lashed her whip of light at me, "Shut up! You have no idea what I've been through because of you!"

"I'm telling you, I had nothing to do with it!"

Dancing around her lashes, I managed to get past her and air-tackle Kisshu. He was caught off guard enough to plummet several feet before making himself fly again, only with me on him. "What did you do to her?" I whispered harshly at the helmet that protected his facial expressions from me.

"The same thing I did to you, kitten. Only this time purposely." His lips twisted into a sick sneer. "I have two of my own fighting against you. Although a bit mislead, they are still enough to handle you."

"I'mma kill you!"

"Maybe next time!" Kisshu suddenly phased out from under me and I found myself falling…

* * *

"_What_ happened to you?" Ryou asked, shocked as I walked over to him, dripping wet. Fortunately, I managed to find my tiara and hit my ears from everyone, but my dress was feeling really icky right now, and I only wanted to change.

"Same thing that happened to me," Zakuro spoke up, making me jump. Looking over at her, I noticed that I had torn her dress in part of our skirmish. She looked like hell too, probably from jumping all around in such an elegant dress. "Part of your ship malfunctioned. There was a loud crack and part of the railing fell off." She nodded her head over to me. "She fell and I managed to climb back up."

Ryou looked furious. "Get me the head safety advisor……NOW!"

"Right away, sir!" a random helper of the party scurried off.

"Ichigo, I am so sorry… And Zakuro… How can I apologize?"

"Not your fault, Ryou." Zakuro looked over at him and made an obvious display of shaking his hand. "The owner should not be blamed for bad employees. But I am afraid that I will have to miss dinner tonight. I was so looking forward to talking with you again."

"Let's get together for lunch one day."

I quickly grabbed a notepad from a waiter and his pen, jotting down something on it while they talked.

"Sounds fun. Well then, I shall take my leave."

"Wait!"

Both of them turned to look at me. I grinned lightly and walked over to Zakuro, offering the pad. "Zakuro, can I have your autograph while I am here?"

She gave me a weird look. Obviously she was covering for herself and not me just now, but given the situation it would look really bad on her part to pass this up. "Why sure."

She took the pad and I could tell she was reading my note on it while she signed.

_Zakuro,_

_Whatever he said, Kisshu is lying to you, we're the good guys. Come to our bar on campus. Momomiya Ichigo_

She handed the tablet back to me and caught my eye. It wasn't much, but I saw a small flicker of hope in it, as if she doubted herself in the first place. Bowing to me lightly, she turned and made her way to the stairs.

"I'll take you home, Ichigo."

"No, that's okay. I'm fine. You have a party to continue. It still last a few more hours, right?" It was dark now, and dinner should be starting soon for them. "Just get me a cab?"

"…All right. Get some rest tonight okay?"

A nod. "Sure. I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

* * *

I sighed lightly as I reached for the doorknob of my apartment. My dress was dry already, but I still felt slimy from the fall into the water. Luckily everyone just thought it was the pool on the ship so I saved myself at least a little embarrassment. The door opened without protest and I walked into my apartment slowly. Instantly Masaya's words when we first went shopping came back to me when I realized that I had a nice clean home that actually made me happier just to come back to.

"Ichigo, you're back early."

I blinked and looked up, hand already sitting on my tiara ready to take it off. Masaya was lying on my couch with one sock clad foot propped on the arm rest while his other was bent at the knee for a make-shift book prop. "Masaya…"

He instantly stood up to walk over to me. "What happened, did you have a bad time?" He placed a hand on my shoulder in an effort to comfort me, even though I haven't even said anything to imply I had a bad day. He always just seemed to _know_.

I sniffed lightly and nodded, taking a step forward to rest my forehead against his chest. "Yeah, you could say it was bad." His hands went to my back to rub it in a small circle.

"Why don't you go take a nice bath? I'll make you some dinner and we'll catch a movie or something to pass the time. You don't have work tomorrow do you?"

I shook my head. "One of my days off, I get every Sunday off now that the hours were changed around."

"About time, they run you ragged there."

"Only until we get some more people working for us. It'll be okay then. Besides, I need to go shopping again soon, and rent is coming up again."

"Well, don't worry about it." His hand went to pat my head, and I went stiff while he did so. I never realized my tiara only made my ears from being seen, and didn't actually _cover_ them. His hand retreated back and I looked up at him, scared. I knew his hands went over my ears, I felt it plain as day. "Go take a bath," he smiled down at me.

He knew. I knew he knew. Is he trying to hide it from me? Doesn't he know that I know that he knows? Is he trying to make me comfortable? I sniffed lightly and walked into my bedroom.

I can remember hiding it from him since the third time we ever met. Lying to him constantly, snapping at him whenever he got even remotely close to finding out… or maybe he was just trying to give me an opening to talk to him… to confide in someone. He said earlier that he wanted to thank the mew mews for fighting whatever it was invading earth. He tried to comfort me in a round about way… Always trying his best to make my life easier for me…

And I always lied to him…

"Masaya…"

"Yeah?" He was in the kitchen, probably looking for something to cook for me.

"I need…. Help." I looked down, wondering if I was actually doing what I was thinking I was doing. "I can't… get my zipper down on my back."

"What? I can't hear you." He walked into my room and stood behind me. "What can I do?"

"My zipper…," I repeated softly. "Will you undo it for me?"

"Eh? Um,er… I mean…"

"It's okay…please."

His finger trailed along my back a moment, sending a shiver down my spine. It slowly found the small, almost hidden zipper and began to slowly pull it downwards for me. I felt my dress instantly go slack and start to fall. My hands went to cross at my chest to keep it from going down completely. "…There…" I could tell he was blushing horribly by just the sound of his voice.

"Wait," I felt my own cheeks turn red. From shyness, anger at myself, or sadness, I wasn't sure. Maybe a little of each. "… Masaya…"

"Yes?"

"You… like me, don't you?"

"…Yeah?" I knew that already.

"You… don't think I'm weird…do you?"

"…No?" I knew that already.

"You… won't ever leave me because of something, would you?"

"Ichigo… Of course not. No matter what it was."

"Even if… I was a little weird?"

"…"

"Masaya…I've been lying to you…I'm… not who you think I am…" I closed my eyes, feeling a small tear come to them. I was about to lose the first and my best friend ever at college. "I'm a…a…"

"It doesn't matter."

"It does!" I turned around quickly, my dress falling to the floor as I did so. Tears sprang to my eyes as he looked away. "No, look at me. Look at me, dammit!" A hot salty taste came to the side of my lips. I sniffed, chocking on a sob. "Look at me… I'm a freak…no one would ever like me like this… All I do is hide, hide, hide." My tail swayed out behind me and I took my tiara off, letting it drop to the ground. "Too scared to let anyone know, fighting for people who would only cast me out as a freak or want to study me to find out why I can do what I can… hiding what has become what I really am in fear of losing everything I have…" I looked down sadly. "Even fighting against other people like me now… the only people that could possibly understand are my enemies..." I sank to my knees. "What am I fighting for…?"

A hand was slowly laid on my shoulder, making me look up into the eyes of a kneeling Masaya. His other hand went to my face and wiped away the tears coming from them. "Because… Not everyone thinks the way you think they do. Because some people want to know so they can be there for you… Because I want to be there for you." Slowly he brought me into a hug and rubbed the small of my back. "If you don't want to fight, then I'm sure there are other ways to win whatever war is going on. But always know that no matter what you do, or what you are, I'll always be here beside you."

"E-Even if I'm not h-human?" My voice was cracking in between my sobs.

"I never thought you were completely human," He began, making my heart sag. "But I always thought you were something more. An angel sent down to me…" His finger traced my jaw and I suddenly started to cry harder, pulling him closer to me. "There there, it's okay." I felt him reach around me and lift me into the air, only to be placed on my bed a few moments later. "Rest for a little bit."

"No, don't go." I pulled him back to me when he went to move away. "Please… stay with me."

He smiled down at me and kissed my forehead. A moment later, I felt my fuzzy blanket I used to curl up in to read being pulled over us. Masaya pulled me to his chest and this time planted a small kiss in my hair. I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around him, taking in his scent. My cheeks were stained red as his hand slowly rubbed my back, reminding me I was almost nude under the covers. But this didn't seem to matter as much as it normally would. He wouldn't leave me just because I was a mew mew. Just because I was different.

His hand made it to my tail and he slowly traced it out behind me with two fingers until it twitched out of his loose hold on it. A shiver went up my spine and he chuckled to himself, obviously pleased. "That feels funny," I spoke into his chest.

"Like how?"

"I …don't know. It's calm and…sensual at the same time." I blushed harder when his hand trailed my tail's length again. My eyes got a little heavy and my heart was beginning to pound in my chest. "But… I like it…" I finally looked up at him and met his eyes. Such sweet caring eyes.

Slowly I shifted up and tilted my head to kiss him. It was slow and sensual, replaced by another as soon s it ended. His hand trailed down my back and stopped at the base of my tail to pull me closer to him. My arms went under his and embraced his back. We kissed again and again, slowly starting to get more passionate as it went on. I felt hot all over my body and the gently rubbing of my back became more sensual as time went on. Maybe it was him who laid the first _real_ touch of the night, maybe it was me. My mind was getting hazy and my body hotter.

Through turns and gentle touches, soft words whispered between us and our love making. Expressions of love, desire, comfort, understanding, all seemed to be one for a few short moments. For one night my life was normal, complete, and filled with love. For one night nothing mattered. For one night I was myself, with the person I knew I loved.

* * *

A/N: What? Lack of updates? Me? NEVER!...Okay maybe a smaaaaaaalllllll delay...over 3 months? NO! maybe 4... does anyone remember this story anymore? Haha, well I'm back. I told you I didn't give up on this story. Hopefully I'll have a few more updates ASAP. I may keep them small, may be large. Not sure just yet. But yeah, I'm back! Tell all your friends! 

As for the "mew mew power, mew mew grace" line...XD I've seen the dubb mew mew. It's hilarious isn't it? It's so badly done I can't help but laugh my way through it all. On this subject, I'd like to once again say that I have eppies 1-44 of the japanese subbed version. I'll be more than happy to share them untill the subtitled version is released in America. Then we get to buy the DVDs. lol. Drop me an email if you want some. Also, how about some reviews? I don't even know if anyone remembers me, hehe.

What's with me putting her with Masaya isntead of Ryou? Blame Jena, she made me XP. This chapter is dedicated to her, so here's to you Jena-Su!


	12. Crawl

The morning noise awoke me from my pleasant dream slowly. A bird had somehow decided to stay in the tree by my bedroom window during the winter this year it seemed. Not that I minded, really. It always seemed to wake me up _right_ on time for my morning classes. Although on my days off it kind of sucked but oh well. I stretched out slowly and winced at sudden small pains on my body. My cheeks colored instantly as Masaya's arm snaked around my bare side and pulled me closer to his body. I had slept with Masaya last night.

**TMM: College Years XII**

**By:**

**Satashi**

Blushing, I sat up in bed and moved the blankets to my chin to cover myself. I looked at my new lover and felt my cheeks color at what all we did last night. His back had eight scratch marks in it that I had made during a… particularly frantic part of last night, and his neck and shoulder had more than a fair share of hickies scattering them. Me on the other hand; I had small marks down my neck and covering my chest as well as a few in an area I was sure to never tell anyone about.

Masaya stirred lightly, making me move backwards a little. My tail sprang to life and decided to twitch out behind me as he made a show of sitting up and stretching. I couldn't help my eyes from looking over his toned body and let out a playful "Mryow!" in appreciation of it.

He blushed a little and gave me a cute lop-sided smile in return. "Good morning, Ichigo."

"Morning." I scratched one of my ears shyly. "Ummm…." A grin came to my face.

Seeing my shyness, he couldn't help but laugh. "Wanna be my girlfriend?"

"He asks after stealing my virginity."

"Hey, I think it was given happily."

My cheeks grew hotter, but I returned his playful flirting. "Oh? What makes you say that?"

"Well you _was_ the one who was screaming."

"I did _not_ scream!"

"Ichigo, your neighbor pounded on the walls."

"Did they?" I brought a hand to my mouth. The two of us looked at each other a moment before slowly starting to snicker. A moment later we were chuckling, then laughing all out before I hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Masaya."

"For what?" He asked, running a hand through my hair.

"I dunno. For everything I guess." I tightened my grip on him. "For being there for me… You know."

"Hey, don't mention it." His hand lifted up my chin and gently claimed my lips in a soft kiss.

When that led into another kiss, which lead into another, I found myself leaning back down on the bed slowly, taking him with me. "This time…I'm on top." I winked at him playfully.

* * *

Masaya opened the door to his apartment slowly and took a step in; trying to be quiet enough not to wake his room mates with his early arrival back to their home. His two living partners were awake, however, and currently on the couch in the living room waiting for him.

"Where have you been man?" Mark asked angrily over a mouthful of captain crunch. "I texted you like nine times last night looking for you!"

"Yeah!" Darren added in, slightly angry as well. "You said you were going to make sure Ichigo got home all right, and when you didn't come back I messaged her and she never answered either! We were worried sick about you!"

"Umm…." Masaya scratched his cheek and took a few steps in. "I stayed over there last night…"

"We went and knocked on the door! No one was there!"

Masaya blushed lightly. "Ahhh…. We were… asleep…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

Mark stood up and pointed at him. "Holy hell, you got laid didn't you?"

Darren stood as well, holding back his tears. "Congratulations man!" He turned to Mark. "He's growing up so fast!"

"So come on man, did she make a lot of noise or what?"

"Um, I'm _right_ here!" I yelled at them, stepping from behind my boyfriend. "Do you quite mind discussing my love life like that? What makes you think we had sex anyway?"

"Because your faces are red, you're hair is completely messed up, and Masaya for once is in a good mood in the morning."

I sniffed. "I'm taking a shower." I walked past the two boys and toward Masaya's room. Luckily their apartment had two bathrooms in it, one on each side. Since it was originally meant for four people, each two shared a bath. Masaya was lucky enough to get one all to himself since their music room was next to his. "Masaya-dear, will you make me some waffles?"

"Sure." He waved at me. "Towels are in the hamper," he scratched his cheek lightly. "I, kind of, haven't done my laundry in….two weeks."

I sighed. "Figures. I'll find a clean one." I closed his door just in time to hear Mark scream out something about Darren owing him five dollars because Masaya wasn't in his third year of college when he lost his virginity.

* * *

I adjusted Masaya's shirt around me slowly, trying to get it to fit without revealing two much of my shoulders. I had it tied at the waist to show off my stomach and a new cute kiwi belly button ring charm. Luckily I had left a few pajama pants over here from when I stayed the night on the couch and done their laundry for them. I made it a point to stay at least once a week to make sure they took care of themselves.

Looking at the doorknob, I swallowed. My tail was behind me and my ears were in plain view now. Masaya had told me that the guys were already sure I was a mew mew but never did anything to prove it because they were worried about my privacy. The deal was that Masaya would tell them while I was in the shower and would put a tie around the doorknob if things didn't turn out good.

Fortunately for me, there was no such tie, so the guys must have accepted me like Masaya tried convincing me of this morning. Swallowing, I reached for it and felt my tail spaz out behind me in anticipation.

Opening it up, I stepped into the living room where everyone was in the kitchen cooking together for a change. Darren seemed to be cutting up some strawberries while Masaya was making some batter, leaving Mark to actually make the waffles. When they realized I was in the room, all three looked at me.

"Umm…Hi."

Darren seemed fascinated with my ears, but only grinned at me. Mark, however, walked over to me and looked down to my head. "Ichigo….. You know I love you like a sister, but I just _have_ to do this."

I sighed and rolled my eyes, knowing instantly that he was going to want to touch/rub one of my cat ears. "Go ahead."

But instead of feeling his hands on my ears, he suddenly broke into a song. "I want chicken, I want liver, meow mix, meow mix please deliver!"

I gaped at him a moment before laughing. I was stupid to think even for a moment that this group of guys would out cast me because of something like this.

"So Anyway, Ichigo… If you don't mind me asking… What exactly is going on anyway?"

I hopped onto the barstool and watched them cook for a moment, trying to decide how to word it. "I'm not entirely sure. All that we know so far is this group of people who…"

The story went on through breakfast with a few questions along the way. Mostly they were worried about me changing while Masaya was worried about me fighting. Mark seemed to be worried about me not changing back from my 'battle phase' form. When my genes were so excited they actually started turning me more and more cat-like. Every battle made me stronger, faster, and sharper. I never really thought about it since I could always keep it under my control. Personally I wasn't too worried about it.

After breakfast, we all took time to actually clean up the kitchen and the mess they made (After a lot of protesting). Then we decided on a movie to watch while talking about nothing in general. It seemed as if they forgot I was a mew mew after only a few hours and everything was just as it had always been.

Only now I didn't have to wear a cap all day long.

* * *

My classes just seemed to drag by on Monday. Mainly because Kish was absent for my first two classes, leaving me with nobody to talk to. I hoped the poor guy wasn't sick; the flu has been going around lately. Moreover, the people coming to the bar at night have been a little slow lately because of it. Although I wasn't really worried about the business aspect of the bar and grill, it still kind of worried me when it wasn't as packed as normal. Maybe I should ask Ryou about it.

Speaking of Ryou, I never did manage to talk to him yet. He still thought what happened Saturday was a flaw of his ship and not the fact that there were supposedly two more mew mews that were against us right now. I would have to break it to all of them before or after work, depending on if Ryou brought it up or not.

I opened the door to his bedroom without knocking and walked up behind him, resting my arms on the back of his computer chair. "What'cha doing?"

"Sending an order out to have my ship repaired and inspected. I'm really sorry about the other day."

"Don't be," I flopped onto his bed and scooted back on it enough to cross my legs. "The damage done wasn't because of bad maintenance."

"…What do you mean?" He stopped typing and swirled his chair to look over at me.

I looked down. "It was…Zakuro."

"I don't understand, she fell too?"

I gave him a small grin. "No, I mean she was the one who did it. She's a Mew mew."

Ryou opened his mouth to ask me what I meant, but closed it. After thinking for a few moments he tried again. "What do you mean? The only ones injected were you, Pudding, and Lettuce."

"And Zakuro, with one other. Kisshu did it. Zakuro had some sort of dog ears or something. Maybe a wolf or a fox, I'm not sure. They were gray"

"I…see…"

"She also said something about going back to normal. I'm guessing she can't get rid of her ears or tail either…"

"So Kisshu turned our own plan against us…" He leaned forward and put his face in his hands. "Great, just great. What are we supposed to do now?"

"I invited Zakuro to come to the bar and talk sometime. Kisshu said that he lied to them or something like that. I don't know much; just that he's deceiving them somehow."

"All right… I'll think on this, you need your nap?"

I nodded. "Yeah, and a cigarette. You have one?"

He gave me a lopsided smile.

* * *

"Good work today, Ichigo," Lettuce bowed to me as she passed by on her way to the changing room.

"You too, Lettuce!" I smiled and waved before hopping up on the bar. I would change a little later. "Ryou, make me a strawberry daiquiri, please?"

"How about one for me as well?"

We both turned to the door, where Zakuro was leaning against the door frame. A shorter girl was next to her, arms crossed over her chest and looking at me in a way that clearly said that she would rather be anywhere in the world than where she was. "Zakuro! You came!" I hopped off the bar and took a few steps forward, only to have the girl she was with step in front of her and put an arm out. "Hey, I'm not going to attack you…"

"We'll sit here," Zakuro said as she walked to the bar and sat on one of the barstools. After sitting down, she took off a name-brand style baseball cap and sat it on the bar. I also removed my standard issue hair band and sat it on the bar as well before hopping up on a barstool myself, a few down from them. "Ichigo, this is Mint." She motioned to the girl she was with. "I believe Ryou already knows her."

"Hello Mint." Ryou greeted her with a light nod. "Would you like a drink?"

"Most certainly not. I don't see how you even _work_ here, Ryou. It's smelly and such low-class."

I snorted, but kept my comment to myself. She must be that rich kid Keiichiro mentioned to me earlier. Zakuro's assistant.

My drink was given to me and a sister of it was placed in front of Zakuro. "So," Ryou began, hopping to sit on the bar. "Ichigo tells me that you fought against her."

Mint stood up to say something, but Zakuro motioned for her to calm down. "Yes. We fought. Or more like I fought. Ichigo didn't attack me."

"You're not our enemy!"

"Ichigo." Just the way Ryou spoke my name, made me quiet down. "Zakuro, you're an intelligent lady. Why are you with Kisshu? You know he's the one invading the earth."

"I wish to be turned back to normal. His actions do not affect me. The military can stop him easily. I am not worried about him taking over the earth by himself."

"And if more people follow him? The Chimera have been on earth for a while now. He can make and control them at will."

"It did not concern me until I was brought into this mess. I wish to be fixed and then take my leave from it. You are the one who made me the way I am so I will fight you until I am changed back."

"That doesn't make any sense!" I protested before Ryou made me silent again.

"How did I do anything? I am responsible for Pudding, Lettuce, and the device made for Ichigo."

"That device also turned me."

"So you cannot make your ears go away?"

"No."

I sighed and took a long sip of my drink. Zakuro at least seemed to be enjoying her daiquiri. We came off as non-hostile to them it seemed.

"I can probably help you." Ryou hopped off the counter and walked over to her, despite Mint's obviously disapproval. "Ears like Ichigo's. Tail too." He walked around her as she calmly sipped her drink. "May I take your pulse?" Zakuro held out her right hand, palm up, for him. I watched amused as he counted her beats for a minute. "Just as I thought, it's fast for a human."

"Mmhmm." She looked over at him. "Kisshu promised me that I could change back. I just have to take out your team for it to happen."

"Why don't you let me try?"

Zakuro stood up. " 'Try' and 'Can' are too different things. Thanks for the drink, Ryou. We'll be on our way now."

"Zakuro!" I stood up and ran over in front of her. "Please, let's talk about this! Don't go, I don't want to fight against someone like me! Please!" Her eyes almost seemed to get moist a moment before her body suddenly hunched forward. I gasped and ran over to her as her hands went to her head and a scream rang out from her mouth. "Zakuro!"

"Get away!" Mint threw me away from the girl and pulled out some sort of device from her purse. A moment later the air shifted around them and they teleported way.

"What…was that all about…?"

* * *

I shivered lightly as the wind blew around me on my walk home. Ryou's jacket offered warmth to my body but my legs were freezing and my hands felt like they were going to fall off, even in my pockets. I guess I should start driving to the bar in the mornings instead of walking to classes. That way I could drive home at night instead of freezing my butt off in the steadily dropping temperature

"So you're the one getting in our way…"

"What?" I turned around quickly to see who had spoken to me, but no one was there.

"So slow!" I felt a knife blade pressed against my neck and my left wrist and grabbed and twisted behind my back. "I don't see how Kisshu hasn't beaten you yet."

"Who are you?" I asked softly, scared the blade would cut into me if I spoke any louder.

"Me? I'm Tart. Nice to meet'cha."

In his introduction, I felt a little slack given to me. It wasn't much, but I still managed to use my agility to rip my right arm up to grab his wrist and lean backwards at the same time. I spun over him in a back flip and threw him into the air at the same time. Tart steadied himself as my feet touched the ground.

I had to dodge to the side to avoid his jump kick, spinning my leg out to connect with his head.

My attack never landed.

Instead I found my legs kicked out from under me and the world falling as I tumbled down onto the ground. A fist connected with my stomach before I even landed completely, robbing me of my breath. Rolling over, I tried to breathe air back into my lungs, but my hair was grabbed and pulled upwards.

I could barley make out the figure of someone who looked no older than seventeen or eighteen. My head jerked to the side as his fist connect with my cheek. I felt tears swell into my eye, but I still managed to lunge forward and swipe down with my hand to rip clean through the light armor he wore and cause four long gashes appear on his chest.

Tart bit back a scream and lashed out with his knife again. Now ready for him, I sidestepped quickly and wrapped my arm over his and jerked to set him off balance while at the same time bringing my other hand down to the back of his neck. The move should have knocked him unconscious, but a searing pain in my side quickly informed me that whatever race the aliens were, they obviously didn't have the same weaknesses as humans.

I let Tart go and found his fist in my stomach again, making me double over. A second later my body was forced back as another blow landed on my face. A third was directed at me, but it was dodged and counter attacked. I punched him across the face with my left hand and then in the chest with my right.

I grabbed his hair and rolled around; slamming his face into the nearby wall of the alleyway I was in. Pulling him back from it, I did it again, this time bringing my knee to his stomach. He gasped out, allowing my to bring my hands together and slam them both down onto his back.

Tart hit the ground and yelled out, grabbing my foot and pulling on it hard. I toppled over and tried to get my act together, but Tart took to flying, dragging me by one leg as he did so. I have no idea how fast he was going, but I was actually skidding on the ground as he went out of his way to slam me into things.

Screaming in pain, I bent my knee quickly and managed to sling myself forward enough to grab the wrist that had a hold on my leg. Pulling on it, I brought my other hand to his arm and pressed my nails into his skin before ripping back on it

A hot sticky liquid flared against my hand and leg as he screamed and let me go. I landed hard and skidded several times before rolling to a stop. I couldn't see out of my right eye and I felt more dead than alive. I could hear Tart breathing angrily in through his nose and out of his mouth. It was clear he was in a lot of pain, but also obvious that he could still go on by the sounds of his steps getting closer.

Pressing up, I managed to get to my feet before getting kicked and sliced with his knife. Another swing came at me, but I blocked it and clocked him across the head, sending him reeling. I collapsed down and desperately tried to remember how to stand before he came back.

"That is enough." A new voice came in, making Tart stop in his tracks. "Tart, report back to base immediately. There is no need to fight if nothing is gained from it."

"Shut up Pai, I can take this one on!"

"In your weakened state, she could kill you if she uses her powers. The point of a surprise attack is to win before they can adjust to what's going on and attack back."

I was panting now, finally standing. "Strawberry bell…" A small jingle on my wrist came from my bell as the energy grew in it. "Ribbon…." The energy grew more and I felt it engulf my hand. I don't know how exactly I could manifest this energy like this, but when I battled for a long period of time, my genes took over and allowed me to do so. If I could only hit him with this, it would be over… "Strawberry…"

"Let's go."

"Che, fine."

I saw both aliens disappear and the energy in my hand slowly dissipated into nothing. Soft white puffs of fog came from my mouth as I panted, hunched over clutching my side. I knew at least one of my ribs was cracked, and I had a searing pain completely down my side where his knife had done its job on me. Looking around, I tried to ignore the pain and access where I currently was. Fortunately my apartment wasn't far off so I decided to go there. If I was too bad, I could call Ryou to come patch me up.

* * *

I collapsed against my door and panted a moment while I tried to fish out the key from my pocket. After what seemed to be hours, I finally managed to find it on my key ring and slide it into the slot.

I barley remembered how to close my door and didn't even bother with the lights. Stumbling into my room, I went to the section that had my vanity and somehow managed to illuminate that area. My blood stained cloths were removed and I collapsed to the floor panting in pain while trying to patch myself up. I had never had a battle quite like that one, and hoped I never would again. After such a long eventful day, not sleeping much, and then a full day of classes and work, and more stress with Zakuro… I was surprised I fought as well as I did. I may not have scored any lethal blows on him but I was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to wield his knife again anytime soon.

I bit back a scream when I touched my side and finally allowed myself to look at it. Immediately I wished I hadn't. My stomach turned and I felt sick at the sight of my own blood down my side. Somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered to clean the would and wrap it tight, not changing the bandages again until the bleeding stopped.

It was a long process and I almost reached for my cell phone to call for help, but I didn't want to. I was attacked because I was alone out on the street. I didn't want anyone else to get hurt on their way to me.

Finally I declared myself done and leaned against the wall, panting heavily. A little sloppy, but all-in-all I was pleased with myself. Holding a cold pack to my eye, I managed to crawl over to my bed and fall into it, not even bothering to try and pull my covers up before letting myself pass out in exhaustion.

* * *

"Ichigo! Ichigo!" Something was shaking me. "Ichigo! Wake up! Ichigo!"

Pain.

"Ow! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, mother- OW!" I pushed away the person shaking me awake and curled on my side. "Owwwwww……."

"You're awake!"

"Of course I am…" I breathed in through my nose to try and calm myself. "The way you was shaking me, I 'm surprised I'm not dead!"

"I'm sorry… Are you okay?"

I gently tested moving, glad to feel my wounds mostly closed up. I was about to tell whoever it was that woke me up that I felt like life had caught me in bed with it's only daughter, but after realizing it was Masaya, I rethought my words. "Yeah, I'm fine…"

"You don't _look_ fine. You look dead!"

I snorted. "Doesn't every girl when they first wake up?"

"Ichigo…." His voice softened and the next thing I knew he was laying on top of me without putting his weight on me. "God, Ichigo, I was so scared…When you didn't come over for breakfast I came to get you…There was some blood on your door and when I opened it up, it trailed all the way here…"

I hugged him back gently, trying to calm down my breathing. "I'm okay. Just a rough night…Is there really blood trailing here?" I looked over his shoulder and say that there was, in fact, noticeable blood stains from the door to my bathroom, to my bed. "Man, I hope that comes out…"

Masaya sobbed and pulled me closer to him. "I don't like this…"

"It was just a small battle. Really honey, I'll be fine in two days." We pulled apart lightly. "Really. Two days. Good as new. I heal like you wouldn't believe." I smiled at him through my lie. I knew I probably wouldn't even walk straight after two days, let alone be healed. I gave myself a week to be in even remotely good fighting status again. "But you know what would _really_ make me feel better?"

"What?" He wiped his eyes and tried to smile at me.

"Some bacon and eggs. And some French toast. A large glass of milk too, extra cold."

He looked down at me, and I looked up at him. We stayed this way for a few moments before he finally let out a worried laugh. "You never stop thinking about food do you?"

"Nuh-uh. Cook for me?" I gave him a cute look.

"Yeah. I'll clean up this up first. I can bleach your sheets to get those stains out, but the carpet….we'll hope for the best."

I nodded and with his help set up. "I should change my bandages. I didn't put any disinfectant on them last night. I just wanted to stop the bleeding."

"I'll run you a nice bath. Let you clean and relax. Then we'll worry about everything else." He slowly helped me get to my feet, but I had to literally lean all my weight against him to remain standing. "Can you make it?"

"I don't think so…" I blushed lightly. "Can you… take a bath with me?"

"Yeah," He answered right away, more worried about me than anything else. I couldn't help but try and hug him a little bit. He was such a caring person.

* * *

"I told you, I'm fine," I protested to my boyfriend as he opened the door to his apartment. "You don't have to go this far."

"About time," Mark greeted us, annoyed. "I was waiting for you to get back before I-holy hell, what happened to Ichigo?"

"I'm_ fine_." I snorted at him. "Masaya just wants to carry me, that's all."

"Shush." He walked over to the couch where Darren was hurriedly shoving things onto the floor to make room for me. "Just lay here. I'll make you breakfast now."

I pouted up at him and moved my slightly damp hair out of my face. For some reason it annoyed me slightly that he was treating me like glass, but at the same time I was flattered. I understood why he was worried. I mean, I'd be crying if I found my friend laying in bed with blood on them. But still, I wasn't a baby!

I looked over at Masaya, who was starting to gather items while sparing me worried glances occasionally. Slowly a small smile came to my lips and I closed my eyes. He must really like me to worry like that. Mark and Darren kept shooting looks over at me, but kept things to themselves. They were probably waiting to talk about it over breakfast.

"So, did you tell her yet?" Mark asked his friend while trying to duck under his arm to get a gallon of milk out of the refrigerator

"It's not the time."

"Tell me what?" I pondered aloud, leaning up gently to see them. "What you guys talking about?"

"Go on man, tell her!" Darren encouraged Masaya playfully. "It's an honor man!"

"What is it?" I asked again, pouting. "Tell me!"

"You guys suck." He turned over to me and offered a small smile. "Ichigo isn't really into Kendo anyway."

That wasn't really true; I just felt a little awkward going to watch his practice because of what happened the first time I did it. That, and I was normally at work while not in classes. "What's up?"

Mark pounced his friend, draped an arm over his shoulder and used his other hand to poke his cheek. "Masaya here is going to fight in the kendo tournament! Only one can enter and he was voted in!"

"You ruin everything, you twit."

"Oh wow! Congratulations!" I smiled at him and went to go give him a hug, but I quickly remembered why I was laying on the couch and decided it would be best to just stay there. "I'm proud of you."

Masaya scratched his cheek lightly in embarrassment.

* * *

I had a long day at their apartment, being pampered every moment and having three guys basically wait on me every moment I was awake. Most of the time there I was asleep, only having a fog of consciousness in between hour or so naps. After I talked all three of them out of taking me to the hospital or at least a small clinic, they finally settled on keeping really close tabs on me and my wounds. Fortunately it wasn't as bad as I thought it was last night. I couldn't walk well because of a cracked rib and not because of the long gash on my side where his knife contacted with me. Even though that was still a main reason I couldn't stand up straight.

As for everything else, I was more beat up than wounded. I didn't think I would be able to go to classes tomorrow, let alone work. Five or six days from now I should be in normal condition to walk around and do my every day things, but I was scared to death of another attack coming before a few weeks went by.

After painstakingly making my way up the stairs I stopped at the top to catch my breath a moment. Masaya had walked me to my apartment building but I refused to let him carry me again, and sent him back on his way.

I noticed then that someone was standing at my door. After a moment of trying to focus on him, I realized it was Kish at the same time he turned to walk down the stairs at the other side of the hallway. "Kish!" He heard my call and stopped, looking over his shoulder.

"Kitten!" He quickly ran over to me and wrapped his arms around me gently. "Are you okay?"

"I'm, uh, fine… How did you know I was hurt?"

"It was on the news about a few students getting attacked. I saw it was on the way from your work to your home."

I blinked. No way could news have gotten out that fast. But, how else would he know? "Thanks for caring…" I shivered a little as his hold tightened on me slightly. "Kish… you can let go now…"

"I'm sorry…"

"For what?"

He pulled back and tried to give me a smile. "For troubling you so much."

"You're not troubling me at all. If anything I'm troubling you. I haven't done much on the report at all and you're always supporting me in classes…" His facial expression got really sad a moment before smiling again.

"That doesn't matter; I enjoy reading about the past. More importantly, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine." I sighed. "Just for a little bit, I don't want to hear that every few moments."

"Sounds good. Umm, I guess you're not in the mood to do the report then."

"No, no, I need something to take my mind off of things." I smiled at him and put my key into the lock.

* * *

I never really just flat out skipped a whole day of classes before, but I felt like I kind of deserved to today. Waking up in the morning to the sound of my bird friend chirping didn't really do much for me. My body was past the straight pain part of the battle and now lapsed into the whole body ache. Only my side was still seriously hurt, but everything else felt like I would die if anyone touched it.

Crawling out of bed, I gingerly walked over to my vanity mirror and lifted my shirt up to see my side again. What greeted me was an ugly bluish black bruise covering most of it where I hit a trash can or something when my attacker was flying while dragging me.

I then remembered why I was dressed in the morning already. Kish has crashed over here last night after studying till way into the morning. After opening my door and peeking into the living room, I couldn't help but smile. Kish had somehow fallen off the couch at one point in the night and apparently didn't wake up from it. Instead he had drug the covers from the couch to cover himself. One leg was still on the couch and his head was titled back lightly, snoring very loudly.

My head shook lightly as I put on a loose hair band as I made my way into the kitchen to start looking around for some food to cook. It was times like this that I was glad I kept my apartment clean. When over at the guy's place it would take me ages to find anything at all to cook with. Here, everything had its own place.

Kish awoke a few minutes later and sleepily sat up to look around. Moments passed and he slowly realized he wasn't at his place and then remembered that he stayed with me. Kish picked up his tinted glasses and his cap and slid them both on before standing. He yawned slowly before stretching out with a loud pop in his back. I winced lightly at the sound, making him laugh before hopping up on one of the two barstools for the island in my kitchen. "Morning Sunshine. We skipping classes?"

"I am, I dunno about you. You can't make your first one so you should stay for breakfast at least."

"I can stay all day with a pretty girl like you."

My cheeks colored. "K-Kish, you're embarrassing me."

"My apologies." He put his cheek in his hand and leaned onto the counter while smiling at me.

* * *

I never got around to telling anyone about what happened to me besides Masaya and his room mates. I know that this was_ kind of_ an important matter, but I was really too tired to really do anything about it. Mark said he was going by the bar a little later in the day for lunch along with Masaya. Originally I had planned to call Ryou and tell him I wouldn't be at work that day and explain everything that had happened but sometime along the way I had fallen asleep and had a blissful dream of an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet. It was interrupted while I was on my third course by my cell phone blaring out the OC theme song.

Mumbling to myself I reached for it and flicked it open. "What is it Ryou?"

"Are you okay? What happened? Why didn't you tell any of us? Where are you?"

I sighed. Apparently Masaya made it to the bar and was questioned on why I wasn't there. Fortunately enough, the girls knew I was crushing on him in the first place and that he knew we were the mew mews. Unfortunately for me, though, Masaya was still worried about me and probably told them everything. Now I couldn't just give them a cute look and say sorry.

"Don't you think we needed to know about you?" Ryou was almost yelling into his phone. He was probably up in his room for some privacy. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine."

"Ichigo."

"Meh. I was sliced up my side, knocked around a bit an thrown into every inanimate object that was in the three block long ally way."

"How is the cut? Is it deep?"

"Kind of. Probably will bother me for a week or so."

"Can you come in? We should check it for any type of poison."

I rolled my eyes. "Ryou, it happened like a day ago. I _think_ if I was poisoned it would have killed me by now." I mentally kicked myself after saying that. I could have killed myself by not calling them. I surprised myself at how smart I was sometimes. "But seriously, just give me today and tomorrow off to rest. After that I should be fine."

"Okay, but only if I can come over later today to check up and examine you."

"That'll work. Can I sleep now?"

"Yeah, uh, sorry for snapping."

"Remind me to mark the day down that you apologized at the right moment." I grinned.

I heard a small scoff. "Yeah, you're fine." The phone clicked off then and I smiled. It always made me feel better by making him mad at me.

* * *

A few days passed quickly for me, being nothing more than blurs of my bed sheets and friends cooking for me. Lettuce stayed over with me for two nights along with Pudding. I really enjoyed being able to talk with them and to just have fun. I was getting a little bored of my apartment, though. Ryou had insisted that I take the week off from work so I would be 'in top fighting condition'.

Reaching over for my phone, I hit the speed dial for Masaya's cell. On the third ring, Darren answered it. "Hello, you've reached Masaya's cell phone. Darren speaking, how may I assist you today?"

I giggled. "Hey Darren. Where's Masaya at?"

"Currently bent over in front of the 'fridge with Mark."

"…. Ooookay, what for?"

"We're cleaning it out."

I almost dropped my phone. "Cleaning? You guys?"

I was about to start laughing, but Masaya's voice came onto the line like he was yelling out. "Oh score, I got dibs on this!"

"No way man, you got the relish, I want the mustard!" Mark's voice argued with him, making me blink.

"Hell, it may still be good!" Darren yelled over at the two boys. "Sniff it."

"I ain't sniffing it!"

"YOU sniff it."

"Fine!" I heard the phone be put down and then a click of a glass jar being opened. "Oh sweet Jesus!" the sound of something slamming down of the table came next, followed by coughing.

"Hey Ichigo, how are you feeling?" Masaya came onto the line.

"…. I'm coming over."

"You feel like getting out?"

"More than you know." I stretched out. "I've been in bed for the most part of five days. I want to go for a drive or something."

"Awesome!" His voice was excited. "Can you drive us around town? Please?"

"Um… okay…"

"Great! I'll see you in a few!" Masaya clicked off his phone in favor of yelling to the guys. "She's gonna drive us!"

"Woohoo!"

* * *

"Why are you so excited?" I asked a little nervously as the guys all piled into my car. Mark, who had first declared 'shotgun' was- for lack of a better word- giddy for some reason. When I had arrived, the boys were already ready and waiting. Masaya held a paper bag filled with what I supposed was what was spoiled or left in their refrigerator for a few months. I never did actually clean that up for them.

"No reason," Masaya told me, leaning up to peck my cheek. "Just go to the by-pass will you?"

"Don't you want to throw all that away first?"

"No!" All three chorused at the same time.

I was taken aback, but nodded slowly. "Okay… to the by-pass then."

* * *

"Sign!" Mark pointed to the first large sign on the side of the road ahead of us. "Load me!" Masaya, to my astonishment, put a glass jar of... something… in his hand while Mark rolled down my window.

"Oh, wait, tell me you're not going to-" My words were cut off as Mark literally leaned his entire upper body out of my car and hurled the jar at the sign as we passed. I heard a loud crashing sound before all of them called out in triumph. "Oh man, I'm going to go to jail, I just know it…"

"Good one!" Darren high-fived his friend before looking at me. "Let's give her a shot."

"Oh no, I am _not_ doing that!"

"Oh come on. Even Masaya loves this!" Mark protested. "Masaya, load her up!"

My boyfriend, to my amazement, dug through the sack and got out a small glass of what looked to be like cocktail sauce that went bad several months ago. "Here, this is good for your first throw."

"I'm _not_ doing this!"

"I'll drive for you." Mark reached over and grabbed the wheel.

"Mark! Let go!" I tried to move his hand from the steering wheel while at the same time making my car not swerve over and hit the ditch or something. "I mean it! Let go right now!"

"Not until you throw something!"

"I _told_ you I'm not throwing anything!" I tried again to remove his hands from the steering wheel, but they were planted strong. "We're going to crash!"

"Are not, I'm good at this. Darren taught me."

"From someone who doesn't even _own_ a car, I'm not encouraged!" I gripped his hands and pulled, almost going off the road. "Okay, _okay_! If I do, will you _please_ not kill us?"

"Sounds tasty." Mark looked ahead while I took what was offered to me. "There's a sign there." he nodded to a large 'Vote for me!' sign. "I don't like that guy anyway. Cream him!"

I growled, but leaned part way out of my window and threw the small bottle. I heard a sickening sploshing sound that somehow, despite my best efforts, made me smile. "Oh my god, that was so cool!"

"Flip a bitch, let's go see it!" Darren shook my seat, making me laugh.

"Fine fine, I'll turn around..."

* * *

"Oh my god!"

"What?" I jerked slightly.

"You hit it Ichigo! Stop! Stop the car! NOW!"

I hit something! I barley managed to look in my rear-view mirror and check to see if anything was behind me before slamming on my brakes with Mark still screaming at me to stop the car.

When it was almost to a complete stop, Mark was already opening the door and scurrying to the front of my car. "She hit it…. It's dead…"

I felt tears spring to my eyes and my hands start shaking nervously. What did I hit? Did I just kill a puppy or a little kitten? I felt my arms shiver; scared of what I just done. Mark slowly cradled something in his hands and made his way solemnly to the door, where he sat with his back toward me. Darren moved over from the backseat to look over and his shoulders sagged when he saw what mark was holding. "What…what is it?"

Mark turned back over to me and held out his hands. Looking down to them, I saw nothing. "It's a pregnant ant!" He proudly declared, sending Darren and Masaya into a rolling fit of laughter.

"Pre…pregnant… pregnant _ant_?" I screamed out at him and felt like slapping him upside the head. "What the _hell_ Mark? I was shaking!"

"She still is!" Darren managed out between fits of laughter, pointing at me.

My ever so loving boyfriend Masaya was also doubled over, laughing so hard not even he could hold back on my behalf.

"Mou!" I hit the gas again and took the exit into the city. My arms were still shaking from both anger and being so scared. Pulling up to a red light an idea suddenly popped into my head. "Hey guys, ever done a Chinese fire drill?"

"A wha?" Mark looked over at me.

"I know what it is," Masaya leaned forward between us. "When you come to a stop sign or something everyone gets out and runs around the car before its time to go again."

"Oh man that's gotta look cool!" Darren was excited, grinning ear to ear. We're totally doing it on the next stop."

The light turned green and I had to bite back my smirk. "I don't think even you guys are up to it. What if you don't make it around in time?"

"Is she doubting us?" Masaya asked, shocked. "Mark, I think she's doubting us?"

"I think she is. Well then," He turned to Darren. "We'll just have to show the little kitty what we're made of!"

I slowed down getting ready to stop at the stop sign. I timed it perfectly where I stopped just as the car to my left drive by. It was a crowded intersection, which only made the guys more excited.

"Okay go!" Mark cried out, opening his door the moment I stopped. I waited a moment until they all were out and as soon as I saw them in my rear view mirror I hit the gas, taking off and shutting all the doors to the car. My laughter rang out hard when I saw their faces in my mirror. Each one was positively shocked.

Grinning, I drove for a little bit before stopping at a gas station and hopping out to go in for some ice cream. When I had made it back out to my car I had just enough time to hop on the back of it and start licking my new treat while watching them trudge down the road. When they reached me I smiled happily. "What's wrong guys? Did you have to stop and help a pregnant ant along the way or something?"

Masaya could only hop up beside me and lean forward to rest. I made them walk about a mile at least. "For the record," he began, grinning. "I think we deserved that."

"Hell, I'm a little proud." Darren agreed.

"Cheers," Mark half heartedly joined in. "Man guys we just got _punked_."

* * *

"So now what?" my voice asked lazily as we drove along the bypass on the way back to our apartment complex. We had gotten lunch while we were in town and made a stop at the Toys 'R Us store but were thrown out before we even go past the first row of cash registers.

"What you looking at?" Darren asked Masaya, who was riding next to me now.

"Is someone on top of that truck up there?" He pointed up to an eighteen-wheeler that was a few cars in front of us. "No, man, I'm serious! Look!"

I leaned forward a bit to look as well and nearly ran into the car next to me. "It's Zakuro!"

"Zakuro? Like the movie star Zakuro?" Darren leaned over the seat to get better look. "Are they filming or something? Ichigo-chan, why don't you ever tell us you know people like that?"

My breath caught in my throat when I saw Kisshu teleport in next to her. He calmly sat down on the top of the bed truck and crossed his legs. Ever so slowly his gaze came to land on me. His eyes were covered by his mask but I could still _feel_ them bearing down onto me; challenging.

The next moment a small energy blast made the car next to me screech and slam into the wall dividing the two sections of the bypass. "Holy hell!" Darren leaned backing his seat and gripped the door with one hand and the seat with his other. "What was that?"

"Kisshu!" I was positively pissed now. That car could have had children in it! Gripping the wheel hard, I ran the options over in my mind. Just how was I going to get to him before he hurt anyone else while on a bypass that had five lanes per side? When his hand lifted again to throw another ball, I knew I didn't have time to think rationally. "Masaya, get the wheel!"

"What?" He reached over and grabbed it for me. "Ichigo, what are you- what are you _doing_?"

"Slide over," I told him in a commanding voice as I rolled my window down. "I'm going to get on top of the car. I need you to steer me over to the truck."

"I can't do that!"

"Thanks" I hit the cruise and proceeded to scurry onto the top of the car, leaving him to scramble into the driver's seat. "Get closer!" I yelled down to him when I was situated. My tail was flaring out behind me in the wind and I felt an insane wind noise though my cat ears. "Once I jump on, get away from here!"

"Oh man, oh man, oh man." Mark was probably looking positively freaked out at this moment. "This is so freaking _cool_!" I had to fight from crawling back into the car just to pop him one.

The truck steadily got closer as people fought with each other to get away from it. When we were directly behind it, I leapt onto the hood of my car and then onto the back of the eighteen wheeler. Using the doors to my advantage, I climbed up the polls and crawled onto the top.

The wind hit my face hard; making me put my arms up to block the wind. "About time," came a voice I wasn't used to. "You should have made it three seconds faster."

I glared at the speaker, a tall alien with purple hair and matching armor. Unlike Kisshu, he didn't have on a helmet, but instead something that looked like a visor going over his eyes. Several things flashed around it as he spoke "By the way you are leaning, there is a ninety-seven percent chance the third rib on your right side is fractured. Your muscles are weak due to excessive bed rest and have not been prepared for movement. Also your breathing indicates that you are having a hard time getting sufficient air into your lungs due to the wind."

I was speechless. How on earth did he know that?

"Kisshu," He went on. "From the data, you could have taken her down easily a month ago, even without using your full power."

Full power?

"Shove it, Pai." Kisshu returned. "I was having fun."

"In the future, please refrain from your fun." The Alien known as Pai turned back to me. "Today is the last time we allow you to interfere with us."

I scoffed. So what if he knew my physical state? I could still easily take him down. Running forward I pulled my fist back to punch him. Pai, however, simply grabbed my fist and slammed his own into my chest.

Stammering back, I suddenly found it harder to breath from the blow. I put this aside and grit my teeth, moving forward again to sweep kick him. Pai simply took a step backwards to avoid this and while I was off-balanced, kicked me hard.

My fingers literally scratched the top of the truck bed while trying to stop myself. My right arm hurt badly from it but I tried not to let it show. Standing up again, I ran forward. At the last moment I lashed my right foot out to try and knock him away. Once more he seemed to know exactly what I was going to do and with the greatest of ease caught my leg and pulled on it. I felt a sharp pain on my calves from being stretched and then another pain on my chest when his elbow crashed on the same spot I was hit before.

The wind was knocked out of me and I was still in melee range of him. Thinking fast, I used my left hand to try and scratch him along his chest, but found his hand gripping my wrist. I looked up at him, scared, and tried to move my other hand to free myself from his grasp. He caught this hand too and I was helpless.

Swallowing thickly, my mind raced furiously to come up with a way to get away from the man. The visor he was wearing suddenly flashed to life and something that looked like an arrow pointed to the side.

Turning, a small ball of water hit his face. Before I knew what was going on the small ball of water suddenly burst into something that looked like a small tsunami, throwing him so hard he almost fell off the side of the truck.

"Lettuce!" I gasped out, remembering again how hard it was to breathe.

"Ichigo-san, are you all right?" She ran over to me and helped me stand.

"How…?"

"Shirogane-san," She answered immediately. "We've been tracking them for a while. We were on our way calling you when we found them but you didn't answer.

"Cell phone's dead," I mused out while watching him stand. I then noticed the air was dying down. "We're stopping." I looked down on the road, where Pudding was actively motioning for the driver of the truck to pullover on the top of Ryou's car.

"What do you say? Want my help now?" Kisshu asked, standing up and walking over to where Pai was. "The truck's stopping."

"I am very aware of that, Kisshu."

"The purple one is Pai," I whispered to lettuce. "He seemed to know everything I was thinking before I could even do it."

"I will take care of the cat; you take care of the other one."

"I'll take care of Ichigo," Kisshu countered him.

"…Fine. This time do it properly."

Kisshu grinned. "Kitty, do you know what's inside this truck?"

"I have no idea," I replied while Lettuce circled around. Pudding jumped up onto the truck as well.

"You call them motorcycles, I believe." He held up a strange device and pressed a button on it, making a motorcycle phase into existence next to him. "Catch me if you can!"

With that, The alien jumped onto the bike, gripped the clutch, and literally drove off the truck and back into the traffic.

I leapt down and looked around for some way to chase after him. "Ichigo!" I turned to see Masaya and his friends running over to me.

I couldn't possibly ask them for help.

"What are you waiting for? GO!" I turned to Ryou's voice, where he threw me his keys. "Run him off the road!"

"I can't drive and do that at the same time!" A loud explosion rang out where Kisshu had gone. "Oh my god, he could kill someone!"

"I'll drive." Darren grabbed the keys from me and ran over to the car.

"Darren! You moron!" Mark shouted over to him. "You know good and well that-"

"Shove it Mark!"

"Idiot still thinks he's a policeman."

So that's what he did in his past?

"Let's go! Ichigo!"

I ran up to the car and leapt onto the top of it. "Let's go, Darren!"

To my surprise, the car shot forward like a bullet. Crouching down, I heard the car roar, shift gears, then roar again. Darren weaved in and out of the cars so fast that I was scared he was going to ram into one of them at any moment. He shifted gears again and turned sharply to the left, then slammed the gas and went forward, only to swerve to the right again.

Taking a deep breath, I saw Kish run another car off the road and into the side railing. Using this to my advantage I leapt from the car I was on and tackled Kisshu. My body turned instantly as his bike lay over, pinning half of him between it and the ground. I held onto his shoulders and braced myself for the impact. He hit the ground and I rode the bike like a surfboard until he too slammed into the wall.

Thrown off, I hit the ground and skidded several times before finally rolling to a stop.

I coughed and tried to move, but found myself unable to. My ribs were killing me and I was sure my entire right side was a giant bruise. Opening my eyes, I saw two feet land not far from me. Kisshu had apparently taken to the sky when I thought he hit the wall. I forgot that he could teleport.

"Why don't you just stop?" He asked, standing in front of me. Desperately I tried to move but my body wouldn't listen to me. "I know you don't like doing this." I tried again to get up, but only succeeded in making my breath a little more ragged. "You're not a warrior. You're a girl just out of her teens. You're not some super hero. All you do is following the instincts of the animal you were merged with." I looked upwards to stare at the helmet Kisshu wore as he knelt down in front of me. "Pai showed me the data." He tapped his helmet. "This records every battle. He studied you and knows every move you can make before you even make it. But what I know about you, Ichigo, is you aren't what you think you are."

What does he mean?"

"You think you're saving the world? You're a child, you're in over your head, and you don't even know _how_ to protect what you think you are protecting. All you do is relying on the animal inside yourself and hope it'll work out."

I grit my teeth together hard, trying to force my body to move. I didn't want to listen to what he was saying anymore, but the more he spoke the more I realized it to be true. "Shut….shut up…." Even my voice was weak.

Sirens slowly started to come into my ear shot and I saw Kisshu stand. "Then, Ichigo, if you are a warrior that protect the earth, then protect the people who are coming here now." He held out his hand and formed…something… into it. "Go!" He reared back "Chimera Infusion!"

A loud screeching sound ran through my spine. A large rat suddenly filled half of the highway. Several cars slammed to a halt and footsteps ran out along the pavement. From my position I could see several police officers bracing to fight, guns pulled and in position to fire.

"See, Ichigo, they are trained. They know what's on the line, what it cost, and will give their lives in needed to protect. You don't have that. You're just an animal. And now you'll see the difference between you and them."

No! No, don't try to fight it! My mind was screaming at the police, trying to form the words, but they wouldn't come. My chest felt like it was caving in on me, making it impossible for me to speak.

Gun shots rang out, followed by several screams. I barley managed to tilt my head to see several of them get tossed to the side like they were nothing.

I couldn't move to help any of them.

I closed my eyes tightly, begging my body to move again, pleading through tears to try and help them. I always had power before, why not now? Was I nothing more than an animal? Was my body so weak that I couldn't do anything on my own?

Was I… really not someone who could protect?

My arms finally moved to my command and I managed to push myself up. "No…"

"What?"

"…No…. No…" I slowly made my way into a weak standing position. "I may only be a college student… I may be cursed with these ears and tail…I may be beaten until I can no longer move…" Kisshu didn't say anything as I started to walk to him. "But… But I have people I love… I have people who I need to protect… whether I chose this or not… The people I pass along the street… the people I talk to in classes… the people I see at the bar… All of them… I'll protect them all… Unskilled, weak, dying, I don't care. I'll still fight. And that, Kisshu, is what _you_ don't understand."

The boy stood there a moment, looking at me. Then before I could say anything else, he teleported away.

The energy gathered in my hand. "Strawberry bell…" I held up my fist. "Don't let me down now…" My feet ran forward. "Everyone move!" My fist clenched tightly. "Strawberry _Check!_" I threw my hand forward and let out the energy being stored there.

The large rat screamed out in pain before appearing to fade into nothing. Now that it was gone, the injured policemen all turned to look at me. At first I was scared that they might be able to tell who I was, but when pink hair fell into my line of sight, I realized that my body had already changed from normal to my 'mew mew' stage.

"Well done." One of them said softly to me. I could only offer him a small smile in return.

Ryou was now running over to me with a beat up Lettuce and Pudding following him. When he reached me I looked up at him lightly before leaning against his chest and relaxing. His arms went around me and I finally allowed myself to pass out into them.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Sorry for the delay in updates. Hopefully next chapter will be better. Oh, and if you thought something here was a little "off" , just bear with it, it's for future chapters. Please drop a review. 


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